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EDITION 



rolden 
The 



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WILLIAM 
SHAKESPEARE 

A collection of quotations from 
the Plays and Poems arranged 
under proper classification. 

INDEXED 



t ^•^ 4 



by \A ; 

^-William J. Raddatz, A. B. 

"^ LIFE MEMBER NEW YORK 

SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY 



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THE • WERNER - COMPA>JY 

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"■5\b book is worth anvthing, which 
is not worth much; nor is it serviceable 
until it has been read, and reread, and 
loved, and loved again; and marked, so 
that you can refer to the passage you 
want in it, as a soldier can sei:(e the 
weapon he needs in an armory." 

I^skin. 



INTRODUCTION. 

" Bread of flour is good: but there is bread sweet 
as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book." 

What sweeter honey than the thoughts gleaned from 
the books of the Bard of Avon? 

How easily our souls may transcend these three hun- 
dred years and be united with this noble spirit, if our 
souls but will. 

What joy it is to wander with Romeo to Juliet's 
window, to live through that beautiful night of youth 
and love; what fancies are born in Othello's indom- 
itable jealousy; what mirth in Falstaff's fall. 

In them the master mind has struck a chord which 
will reverberate for all time for all men who will but 
listen. 

Ruskin says, " the essence of vulgarity is lack of 
sensation." What can we say of Shakespeare; he 
leads our fancies hither and thither, first through the 
highways of mirth and laughter, then through the laby- 
rinths of life into the depths of sorrow. They live, they 
breathe, these beings of Shakespeare's fancy; they 
speak the most beautiful thoughts that were ever con- 
ceived in the mind of man. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

These thoughts, these most subHme conceptions 
I have endeavored to compile under various appropri- 
ate headings for the easy access of those who may seek 
the profoundest expressions on any subject. 

In many instances as can be readily perceived from 
the text, the thought contained is self explanatory as 
for instance " Frailty, thy name is woman," whereas 
in others the meaning is less apparent as " 'Tis an ill 
wind that blows no one good," in which cases I have 
striven to find a word for the caption which would 
concisely and at the same time lucidly give the key to 
the contained quotation. 

The reader will find that I have only extracted such 
passages as could be quoted as thoughts, not merely 
as catch phrases devoid of all but purely local signifi- 
cance. For illustration 

" Fortune is merry. 

And in this mood will give us anything." 

To each quotation is appended the act, scene and play 
from which the passage is taken, thus enabling the 
reader to ascertain for himself the connection in which 
the thought was expressed and the character from 
whose mouth the words have emanated. 

The text which I have used for my researches 
is the Cambridge text, thus the work contains 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

the quotations not only from every play but from every 
poem accredited to Shakespeare. 

Each passage w^hether verse or prose has been 
carefully copied and never altered in the slightest 
degree, 

I recommend the book to the student for it may 
serve him as a stimulant to further delve into the mystic 
labyrinths of this wonderful genius; to the lawyer and 
public speaker, for in it he will find classified the argu- 
ments that will not be refuted and cannot be denied; 
and to the general reader, for he will find here the 
grandest thoughts that were ever conceived in the mind 
of the world's greatest literary genius. 

The Author. 



INTENTION. 

. . . .what we do determine oft we break. 
Purpose is but the slave to memory. 
Of violent birth but poor validity; ^ 
Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree. 
But fall, unshaken, when they mellow be, 

— HamleU Act 3, Sc. 2. 

It is the purpose that makes strong the vow; 
But vows to every purpose must not hold: 
^ — Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

/ ... .by bad courses may be understood 
That their events can never fall out good. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, 5c. 1. 

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 
Unless the deed go with it: 

— Macbeth, Act 4, Sc.\. 

.... when good will is show'd, though 't come too short. 
The actor may plead pardon. 

— Antony and Cleopairat Act 2, Sc. 5. 
1 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

Frailty, thy name is woman — 

— HamleU Act \, Sc. 2. 

The chariest maid is prodigal enough, 
If she unmask her beauty to the moon : 

—Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 3. 

. . . .women's fear and love holds quantity, 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .women are not 
In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure 
The ne'er-touch'd vestal: 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 12. v^ 

. . . .there was never yet fair woman but she 
made mouths in a glass. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 
So horrid as in woman. 

— King Lear i' Act 4, Sc. 2. 

. . . .women, being the weaker vessels, are ever 
t'lrust to the wall: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act \, Sc. \. 

We cannot fight for love, as men may do ; 

We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 




GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

Women may fall when there's no strength in men. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, 5c. 3. 

Two women placed together makes cold weather : 

—King Henry VIII., Act], Sc. 4. 

Who is 't can read a woman? 

— Cymbeline, Act 5, 5c. 5. 

... .if ladies be but young and fair. 
They have the gift to know it: 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

A woman sometimes scorns what best contents her. 
• — Tjvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

Dumb jewels often in their silent kind 
More than quick words do move a woman's mind. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man. 
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, 5c. I. 

Women are angels, wooing: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act \, Sc. 2. 

A woman impudent and mannish grown 
Is not more loath'd, than an effeminate man 

—Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

3 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

. . . .when maidens sue, 
Men give like gods ; but when they weep and kneel. 
All their petitions are as freely theirs 
As they themselves would owe them. 

— Measure for Measure, Act \, Sc. 4. 

. . . .women are frail 
... .as the glasses where they view themselves; 
Which are as easy broke as they make forms. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Women ! . . . . men their creation mar 
In profiting by them. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Alas, poor women ! make us but believe. 
Being compact of credit, that you love us; 

Though others have the arm, show us the sleeve; 
We in your motion turn, and you may move us. 

— Corned"^ of Errors, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

How easy is it, for the proper false 

In women's waxen hearts to set their forms! 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... let still the woman take 
An elder than herself; so wears she to him. 
So sways she level in her husband's heart: 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

4 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

.... women are as roses, whose fair flower 
Being once display'd, doth fall that very hour. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Men's vows are women's traitors. 

— C])mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

.... 'tis said a woman's fitness comes by fits. 

— C^mheline, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen 
As is the razor's edge invisible. 
Cutting a smaller hair than may be seen ; 

— Loves Lahou/s Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

... .a woman may be made a fool. 
If she had not a spirit to resist. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

He that perforce robs lions of their hearts 
May easily win a woman's. 

— King John, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

How tame, when men and women are alone, 
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, 5c. I. 

. . . .how weak a thing 
The heart of woman is! 

— Julius Cac£sar, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

5 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

How hard it is for women to keep counsel! 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

.... the honour of a maid is her name ; 
—Alls Well That End's Well, Act 3, 5c. 5. 

Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks. 
Shall win my love : 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

' Tis a harsh hearing, when women are forward. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 5, 5c. 2. 

Haply a woman's voice may do some good. 
When articles, too nicely urg'd, be stood on. 

— King Henry V., Act 5, Sc. 2. 

. . . .when a world of men 
Could not prevail with all their oratory. 
Yet hath a woman's kindness overruled: 

—King Henry VI, {Part i). Act 2, 5c. 2. 

/ She's beautiful and therefore to be woo'd; 
She is a woman, therefore to be won. 

—King Henry VI. {Part i). Act 5, 5c. 3. 

No more, but e'en a woman, and commanded 
By such poor passion as the maid that milks 
And does the meanest chares. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, 5c. 15. 

6 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 
WOMAN, 

Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible; 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part Hi), Act], Sc. 4. 

' Tis virtue that doth make women most admired ; 
—King Henr^ VI. (Pari ni). Act 1, Sc. 4. 

And when a woman woos, what woman's son 
Will sourly leave her till she have prevailed? 

— Sonnets XLI. 

.... to make a sweet lady sad is a sour offence. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

But there is never a fair woman has a true face. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, 

— Anton}) and Cleopatra, Act 5, 5c. 2. 

She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd; 
She is a woman, therefore may be won; 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .praise we may afford 

To any lady that subdues a lord. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

The venom clamours of a jealous woman 
Poisons more deadly than a mad dog's tooth. 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

7 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

.... and certainly a woman's thought runs before 
her actions. 

— As You Like It, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Do you not know I am a woman? when I think, 
I must speak. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Men's fancies are more giddy and unfirm. 
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and won. 
Than women's are. 

—Tn^elfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Inconstancy 

More in women than in men remain. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \Sth verse. 

The wiles and guiles that women work. 
Dissembled with an outward show. 
The tricks and toys that in them lurk. 
The cock that treads them shall not know. 
Have you not heard it said full oft, 
A woman's nay doth stand for nought? 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \9th verse. 

. . . .men have marble, women waxen, minds. 
And therefore are they form'd as marble will; 
The wea.k oppress'd, the impression of strange kinds 

8 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

Is form'd in them by force, by fraud, or skill : 
Then, call them not the authors of their ill. 
No more than wax shall be accounted evil 
Wherein is stamp'd the semblance of a devil. 

Their smoothness, like a goodly champaign plain. 

Lays open all the little worms that creep; 

In men, as in a rough-grown grove, remain 

Cave-keeping evils that obscurely sleep: 

Through crystal walls each little mote will peep: 

[ Though men can cover crimes with bold stern looks, 

1 Poor women's faces are their own faults' books. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 78-1 79th verse. 

A woman moved is like a fountain troubled. 
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty; 
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty 
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it. 
Hiy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper. 
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee, I 
And for thy maintenance commits his body 
To painful labour both by sea and land. 
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold. 
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe; 
And craves no other tribute at thy hands 
But love, fair looks and true obedience; 
Too little payment for so great a debt. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WOMAN. 

Such duty as the subject owes the prince 

Even such a woman oweth to her husband; 

And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, 

And not obedient to his honest will, 

What is she but a foul contending rebel. 

And graceless traitor to her loving lord? 

I am ashamed that women are so simple 

To offer war where they should kneel for peace; 

Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway, 

When they are bound to serve, love and obey. 

Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth. 
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world. 
But that our soft conditions and our hearts 
Should well agree with our external parts? 

— Taming of the Shreiv, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

.... all the vows that ever men have broke. 
In number more than ever women spoke, 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

.... 'tis age, that nourisheth. 
But youth, in ladies' eyes, that flourisheth 

— Taming of the Shretv, Act 2, 5c. 1 . 

' Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud ; 

—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act ], Sc. 4. 



10 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MAN. 

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in rea- 
son! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, 
how express and admirable! in action, how like an 
angel ! in apprehension how like a god ! the beauty of 
the world ! the paragon of animals ! 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

What is a man. 
If his chief good and market of his time 
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. 
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse. 
Looking before and after, gave us not 
That capability and godlike reason 
To fust in us unused. 

— Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time: 

Some that will evermore peep through their eyes. 

And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper; 

And other of such vinegar aspect. 

That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile. 

Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 1, 5c, 1. 

... .we all are men. 
In our own natures frail and culpable 
Of our flesh; few are angels: 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 5, 5c. 3. 

■ 11 




GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MAN. 

.... all the vows that ever men have broke. 
In number more than ever women spoke, 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act \, Sc. 1 

. . . .what fools these mortals be! 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, 5cv2 

But men are men ; the best sometimes forget : 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

' Tis not a year or two shows us a man : 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

At all times alike 

Men are not still the same. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

We men may say more, swear more; but indeed 
Our shows are more than will; for still we prove 
Much in our vows, but little in our love. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Men at some time are masters of their fates : 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. 
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 

— Julius Cc£sar, Act \, Sc. 2. 

I will find you twenty lasciyious turtles ere one 
chaste man. 

— Merr^ Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

12 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MAN. 

When that this body did contain a spirit, 
A kingdom for it was too small a bound; 
But now, two paces of the vilest earth 
Is room enough: 

—King Henry IV., Act 5, Sc. 4. 

... .do you know what a man is? Is not birth, 
beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gen- 
tleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice 
and salt that season a man? 

■ — Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... man, proud man, 

Drest in a little brief authority, 

Most ignorant of what he's most assured. 

His glassy essence, like an angry ape. 

Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven 

As make the angels weep; 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

We are such stuff 
As dreams are made on ; and our little life 
Is rounded with a sleep. 

— The Tempest, Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man. 
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman. 

— Txpo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

13 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 
MAN. 

Men were deceivers ever, 
—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Women may fall when there's no strength in men. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Inconstancy 

More in women than in men remain. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \Sth verse. 

A woman impudent and mannish grown 
Is not more loath'd, than an effeminate man 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Women ! . . . . men their creation mar 
In profiting by them, 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Alas, poor women ! make us but believe. 
Being compact of credit, that you love us; 

Though others have the arm, show us the sleeve; 
We in your motion turn, and you may move us. 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Men's vows are women's traitors. 

— Cymheline, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

How tame, when men and women are alone, 
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew. 

— Taming of the Shreiv, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

14 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MAN. 

Men's fancies are more giddy and unfirm. 
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and won, 
Than women's are. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, 5c. 4. 

. . . .were man 
But constant, he were perfect ! that one error 
Fills him with faults; 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

DISP ASSIGN. 

. . . .blest are those. 
Whose blood and judgement are so well commingled 
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 
To sound what stop she please. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Give me that man 
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

CALUMNY. 

. . . .slander lives upon succession. 
For ever housed where it gets possession. 

— Comedy^ of Errors, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

15 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CALUMNY. 

What king so strong 
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue? 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .back-wounding calumny 
The whitest virtue strikes. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .one doth not know 
How much an ill word may empoison liking. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Men's evil manners live in brass ; their virtues 
We write in water. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 4, Sc. 2. 

That is no slander, sir, which is a truth, \ 
— Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Sc. 1 . j 

, .be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as sno#, 
thou shalt not escape calumny. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Ill deeds are doubled with an evil word. 

— Corned;^ of Errors, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

... .an you had any eye behind you, you might 
see more detraction at your heels, than fortunes before 
you. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 5. 

16 




GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CALUMNY. 

. . . .slander. 
Whose sting is sharper than the sword's 

— Winter's Tale, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Virtue itself ' scapes not calumnious strokes. 

—Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 3. 

. . . .slander; 
Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue 
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath 
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie 
All corners of the world: kings, queens, and states. 
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave 
This viperous slander enters. 

— C^mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

... .calumny will sear 
Virtue itself: 

— Winter's Tale, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .slander's mark was ever yet the fair; 
, The ornament of beauty is suspect, „_ 

A crow that flies in heaven's sweetest air. 

— Sonnets LXX. 

MADNESS. 

Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go. 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. I. 

17 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MADNESS. 

.... a madman's epistles are no gospels, 

—Tivelfth Nighu Act 5, 5c. l 

Lovers, and madmen, have such seething brains. 
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend 
More than cool reason ever comprehends. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Sc. I. 

PASSION. 

When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul 
Lends the tongue vows: 

—Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 3. 

What to ourselves in passion we propose. 
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc, 2. 

ETERNITY. 

. . . .that the dread of something after death. 
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will. 
And makes us rather bear those ills we have, 
Than fly to others that we know not of? 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

18 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CENSURE. 

No might nor greatness in mortality 
Can censure 'scape ; 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Fair payment for foul words is more than due. 

— Lovers Labours Lost, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

HEAVEN. 

Heaven is above all yet; there sits a judge 
That no king can corrupt. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Comfort's in heaven; and vv^e are on the earth, 
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares and grief. 

— King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... most it is presumption in us, when 
The help of heaven we count the act of men. 
—Alls Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

PROVIDENCE. 

. . . .there is special providence in the fall of a 
sparrow. 

— Hamlet, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

19 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PROVIDENCE. 

There's a divinity that shapes our ends. 
Rough-hew them how we will. 

— Hamlet, Act 5. Sc. 2. 

We, ignorant of ourselves, 
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers 
Deny us for our good; so find we profit 
By losing of our prayers. 

— Antony^ and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. \. 

OLD AGE. 

. .they say, an old man is twice a child. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

The younger rises, when the old doth fall. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

. . . .world, O world! 
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee. 
Life would not yield to age. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. L 

Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye, 
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie ; 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3 

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come; 
— Merchant of Venice, Act \, Sc. 1 

20 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

OLD AGE. 

At seventeen years many their fortunes seek ; 
But at fourscore it is too late a week : 

—As You Like It, Act 2. Sc. 3. 

. . . .when the age is in, the wit is out. 
—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

. . . . ' tis age, that nourisheth. 
But youth, in ladies' eyes, that flourisheth 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

How ill white hairs become a foo-1 and jester! 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 5, 5c. 5. 

Respect and reason wait on wrinkled age! 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 40th verse. 

' Tis better playing with a lion's whelp 
Than with an old one dying. 

' — Anton-y and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together: 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \2th verse. 

.... age, in love, loves not to have years told. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, ]si verse. 

Old fools are babes again, and must be us'd 
With checks 

— King Lear, Act \, Sc. 3. 

21 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

OLD AGE. 

Youth is full of pleasance. 

Age is full of care: 
Youth like a summer morn, 

Age like winter weather; 
Youth like summer brave. 

Age like winter bare. 
Youth is full of sport. 
Age's breath is short ; 

Youth is nimble, age is lame: 
Youth is hot and bold. 
Age is weak and cold;^ 

Youth is wild, and age is tame. 
Age, I do abhor thee; 
Youth, I do adore thee ; 
O, my love, my love is young! 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, Mih verse. 

O! love's best habit is in seeming trust. 
And age in love loves not to have years told : 

—Sonnets CXXXVIII. 

YOUTH. 
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sec. 3. 

Woe to that land that's govern'd by a child ! 

—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 3. 

23 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

YOUTH. 

So wise so young, they say, do never live long. 

—King Richard III., Act*3, Sc. 1. 

Youth's a stuff will not endure. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .youth is bought more oft, than begg'd, or 
borrow'd. 

— Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

.... briefly die their joys 
That place them on the truth of girls and boys 

— C^mheline, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

The sea will ebb and flow, heaven show his face; 
Young blood doth yet obey an old decree: 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

For young hot colts, being raged, do rage the more. 
—King Richard IL, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

And may not young men die, as well as old? 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

See, how the morning opes her golden gates, 
• And takes her farewell of the glorious sun! 
How well resembles it the prime of youth, 
Trimm'd like a younker, prancing to his love ! 

— King Henry VI, {Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

YOUTH. 

though the camomile, the more it is trodden 

on the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted, 
the sooner it wears. 

—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 2, 5c. 4. 

A young man married is a man that's marr'd: 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 2. Sc. 3. 

Youth is full of pleasance. 

Age is full of care : 
Youth like summer morn. 

Age like winter weather; 
Youth like summer brave. 

Age like winter bare. 
Youth is full of sport. 
Age's breath is short; 

Youth is nimble, age is lame: 
Youth is hot and bold. 
Age is weak and cold; 

Youth is wild, and age is tame. 
Age, I do abhor thee; 
Youth, I do adore thee; 
O, my love, my love is young! 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \2th verse. 

A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot 
endure in his age. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

24 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

YOUTH. 

. . . .boys, who, being mature in knowledge, 
Pawn their experience to their present pleasure. 
And so rebel to judgement. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1 , Sc. 4. 

The younger rises, when the old doth fall. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

At seventeen years many their fortunes seek ; 
But at fourscore it is too late a week : 

—As You Like It, Act 2, 5c. 3. 

. . . . ' tis age, that nourisheth. 
But youth, in ladies' eyes, that flourisheth 

— Taming of the ShrelQ}, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together: 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \2th verse. 

FAME. 

.... there's hope, a great man's memory may out- 
live his life half a year: but, by'r lady, he must build 
churches then; or else shall he suffer not thinking on, 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

The great man down, you mark his favourite flies; 
The poor advanced makes friends of enemies : 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAME. 

This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms. 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is aripening, nips his root. 
And then he falls. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .too much honor. 
. . , . ' tis a burden 
Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven. 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

O, the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us! 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

If a man do not erect, in this age, his own tomb 
ere he dies, he shall live no longer in monument, than 
the bell rings, and the widow weeps. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Glory grows guilty of detested crimes, 

When, for fame's sake, for praise, an outward part 

We bend to that the working of the heart ; 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAME. 

. . . .honor travels in a strait so narrow, 
Where one but goes abreast : keep, then, the path. 
For emulation hath a thousand sons. 
That one by one pursue: if you give way. 
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright. 
Like to an enter'd tide, they all rush by 
And leave you hindmost: 

Or, like a gallant horse fall'n in first rank, j 
Lie there for pavement to the abject rear, \ 

O'er-run and trampled on: ' 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

Princes have but their titles for their glories. 

An outward honor for an inward toil ; 

And for unfelt imaginations. 

They often feel a world of restless cares : 

So that, betwixt their titles, and low name. 

There's nothing differs but the outward fame. 

—King Richard III., Act I, 5c. 4. 

O, momentary grace of mortal men. 

Which we more hunt for than the grace of God! 

Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks. 

Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast. 

Ready with every nod to tumble down 

Into the fatal bowels of the deep. 

— King Richard III., Act 3, 5c. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAME. 

.... most miserable 
Is the desire that's glorious: blessed be those. 
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills. 
Which seasons comfort. 

— Cymbeline, Act 1, Sc. 6. 

. . . .honors thrive. 
When rather from our acts we them derive, 
Than our foregoers. 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

For new-made honor doth forget men's names: 

— King John, Act ], Sc. 1. 

. . . .Can honor set to a leg? No. Or an arm? 
No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor 
hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honor? A 
word. What is in that word, honor? What is that 
honor? Air. A trim reckoning! — Who hath it? 
He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. 
Doth he hear it? No. ' Tis insensible, then? Yea, 
to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. 
Why? Detraction will not suffer it: 

—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Honor is a mere scutcheon, 
—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 5. Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAME. 

Glory is like a circle in the water. 
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself 
Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought. 

—King Henry VI. (Part i). Act 1, Sc. 2. 

FALSEHOOD. 

.... falsehood 
Is worse in kings than beggars. 

— Cymbeline^ Act 3, Sc. 6. 

.... will poor folks lie. 

That have afflictions on them, knowing ' tis 

A punishment, or trial? Yes; no wonder, 

When rich ones scarce tell true: to lapse in fulness 

Is sorer, than to lie for need ; 

— Cymbeline, A^ct 3, Sc. 6. 

Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying ! 

—King Henry IV. (Part f). Act 5, Sc. 4. 

And falsehood falsehood cures; as fire cools fire 
Within the scorched veins of one new burn'd. 

— King John, Act 3, 5c. L 

TRUTH. 

. . . .tell truth and shame the devil. 

—King Henry IV, (Part i),Act 3, Sc 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TRUTH. 

. . . .truth will come to light: 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .truth loves open dealing. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .truth can never be confirm'di enough. 
Though doubts did ever sleep. 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

.... is not enough to speak, but to speak true. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

' Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth. 
But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Truth hath a quiet breast. 

—King Richard II., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

.... they say the tongues of dying men 
t Enforce attention like deep harmony: 
I Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain; 
\ For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain. 
—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .truth should live from age to age. 
As 'twere retail'd to all posterity. 
Even to the general all-ending day. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TRUTH. 

. . . .truth is truth 
To the end of reckoning. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

.... truth hath better deeds, than words, to grace it. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... to thine own self be true ; 
And it must follow, as the night the day. 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

—Hamlet, Act 1 , Sc. 3. 

Truth needs no color, with his color fix'd; 

— Sonnets, CI. 

STEALTH. 

.... Affairs that walk 
As, they say, spirits do at midnight have 
In them a wilder nature, than the business 
That seeks despatch by day. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 5, 5c. 1. 

Who dares not stir by day, must walk by night, 

— King John, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep, 
And in his simple show he harbors treason. 
The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb : 

—King Henry VI. {Part ii) , Act 3, 5c. 1. 

. . . .have open eye, for thieves do foot by night: 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

STEALTH. 
.... things ill got had ever bad success ? 
—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 2. 

HONESTY. 
... .to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one 
man picked out of ten thousand. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... rich honesty dwells like a miser, in a poor- 
house, as your pearl in your foul oyster. 

— As You Like It, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

... .no legacy is so rich as honesty. 
—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. 

—King Richard III., Act 4, Sc. 4. 

An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, 
when a knave is not. 

—King Henr-y IV. {Part ii). Act 5, 5c. 1. 

Where I could not be honest, 
I never yet was valiant : 

— King Lear, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .those that fortune makes fair she scarce 
makes honest; and those that she makes honest, she 
makes very ill-favoredly. 

— As You Like It, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HONESTY. 

. . . .honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey 
a sauce to sugar. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

CHILDREN. 

Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters' minds 
By what you see them act. 

—Othello, Act 1.5c. 1. 

We do not know 
How he may soften at the sight o' the child : 
The silence often of pure innocence 
Persuades when speaking fails. 

— Winters' Tale, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
To have a thankless child! 

— King Lear, Act 1 , 5c. 4. 

... .it is a wise father that knows his own child. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

. . . . ' tis a happy thing 
To be the father unto many sons. 
-King Henry VL {Part Hi), Act 3, 5c. 2. 

. . . . ' tis the eye of childhood 
That fears a painted devil. 

-Macbeth, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CHILDREN. 

Fathers, that wear rags. 

Do make their children bhnd; 

But fathers, that bear bags. 
Shall see their children kind. 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Yet every mother breeds not sons alike : 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Good wombs have borne bad sons. 

— The Tempest, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

A witty mother! witless else her son. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, 5c. 1 . 

FATHER. 

Fathers, that wear rags. 

Do make their children blind; 

But fathers, that bear bags, 
Shall see their children kind. 

— King Lear, Act 2, 5c. 4\ 

To you your father should be as a god. 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1 , 5c. 1. 

. . . . ' tis a happy thing 
To be the father unto many sons. 
—King Henry VL {Part Hi), Act 3, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FATHER. 
. .it is a wise father that knows his own child. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Father, and in that name doth nature speak. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

MOTHER. 
Yet every mother breeds not sons ahke : 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Good wombs have borne bad sons. 

— The Tempest, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

A witty mother! witless else her son. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .let mothers doubt. 
—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 4. 

BROTHER. 
Brother, for in that name doth nature plead. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

More than our brother is our chastity. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4, 

PARENTS. 
.... nature cannot choose his origin 

— Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FRIENDSHIP. 

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried. 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; 
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

All friends shall taste 
The wages of their virtue, and all foes 
The cup of their deservings. 

— King Lear, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

.... in companions 
That do converse and waste the time together. 
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love. 
There must be needs a like proportion 
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels. 
Be sure, you be not loose; for those you make friends, 
And give your hearts to, when they once perceive 
The least rub in your fortunes, fall away 
Like water from ye, never found again 
But when they mean to sink ye. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 2, 5c. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FRIENDSHIP. 

. . . .you do, surely, but bar the door upon your 
own liberty, if you deny your griefs to your friend. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... what need we have any friends, if we should 
ne'er have need of 'em? they were the most needless 
creatures living, should we ne'er have use for 'em; and 
would most resemble sweet instruments hung up in 
cases, that keep their sounds to themselves. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... where there is true friendship, there needs no 
ceremony. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Who can call him 
His friend, that dips in the same dish? 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

I rather wish you foes, than hollow friends; 

—King Hem]) VI. (Part Hi), Act 4, Sc. I. 

Friendship is constant in all other things. 

Save in the office and affairs of love: 

Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues ; 

Let every eye negotiate for itself. 

And trust no agent, for beauty is a witch. 

Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

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untie. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FRIENDSHIP. 
The amity that v^isdom knits not, folly may easily 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 3. 



He hath no friends, but who are friends for fear. 
Which in his greatest need will shrink from him. 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 2. 

.... to wail friends lost 
Is not by much so wholesome, profitable. 
As to rejoice at friends newly found. 

— Loves Labour s Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

... .a good heart's worth gold. 
—King Henry IV. (Part n). Act 2, Sc. 4. 

A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 

— Julius Cc£sar, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

He that is thy friend indeed. 
He will help thee in thy need: 
If thou sorrow, he will weep; 
If thou wake, he cannot sleep; 
Thus of every grief in heart. 
He with thee does bear a part. 
These are certain signs to know 
Faithful friend from flattering foe. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 2\st verse. 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FRIENDSHIP. 

What viler thing upon the earth, than friends 
Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends? 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

. . . .keep thy friend 
Under thy own life's key: 
—AlVs Well That Ends Well Act 1, 5c. 1. 

ENMITY. 

.... be able for thine enemy 
Rather in power than use; 
—Alls Well That Ends Well, Act \,Sc.\. 

Who cannot be crushed with a plot? 
—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

ABUNDANCE 

A double blessing is a double grace; 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

. . . .superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but 
competency lives longer. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

Where nothing wants that want itself doth seek. 

— Love's Labour* s Lost, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

ABUNDANCE. 

. . . .they are as sick, that surfeit with too much, 
as they that starve with nothing : 

— Merchant of Venice, Act \, Sc. 2. 

SURFEIT. 

.... surfeit is the father of much fast, 

— Measure for Measure, Act \ , Sc. 2. 

FEAR. 

. . . .you may fear too far. 

Safer than trust too far 

— King Lear, Act 1 , 5c. 4. 

Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 5 1 st verse. 

. . . .best safety lies in fear: 

— Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 3. 

To be furious. 
Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood. 
The dove will peck the estridge. 

— Anton'^ and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 

In time we hate that which we often fear. 

— Anton}) and Cleopatra, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FEAR. 

.... passions of the mind. 
That have their first conception by mis-dread. 
Have after-nourishment and Hfe by care; 
And what was first but fear what might be done. 
Grows elder now, and cares it be not done: 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act ], Sc. 2. 

Fears make devils of cherubins; they never see 

truly. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds safer 
footing than blind reason, stumbling without fear; to 
fear the worst, oft cures the worse. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Present fears 
Are less than horrible imaginings. 

—Macbeth, Act \, Sc. 3. 

. . . . ' tis the eye of childhood 
That fears a painted devil. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

To alter favor ever is to fear. 

—Macbeth Act \, Sc. 5. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FEAR. 

. . . .when our actions do not. 
Our fears do make us traitors. 

—MachetK Act 4, 5c. 2. 

To fly the boar, before the boar pursues. 

Were to incense the boar to follow us, 

And make pursuit, where he did mean no chase. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds 
Where it should guard. 

—King Henry VI . (Part «), Act 5, 5c. 2. 

To fear the foe, since fear oppresseth strength. 
Gives, in your weakness, strength unto your foe, 
And so your follies fight against yourself. 

—King Richard II., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

.... defect of judgment 
Is oft the cause of fear. 

— Cymheline, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

Those that I reverence, those I fear, the wise : 
At fools I laugh, not fear them. 

— Cymheline, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

Let pale-fac'd fear keep with the mean-born man, 
And find no harbor in a royal heart. 

—King Henry VI. {Part ii) ,Act3, 5c. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FEAR. 

Of all base passions fear is most accurs'd. 

—King Henry VI. (Part 0. Act 5, 5c. 2. 

Danger deviseth shifts; wit waits on fear: 

— Venus and Adonis, 1 \5th verse. 

. . . .extreme fear can neither fight nor fly. 
But coward-like with trembling terror die. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 33rd verse. 

. . . .urge doubts to them that fear. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

BRAVERY. 

. . . .valor is the chiefest virtue, and 
Most dignifies the haver: 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Bootless speed! 
When cowardice pursues, and valor flies. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .well did he become that lion's robe. 
That did disrobe the lion of that robe. 

— King John, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .courage mounteth with occasion: 

— King John, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BRAVERY. 

In the reproof of chance 
Lies the true proof of men. The sea being smooth. 
How many shallow bauble boats dare sail 
Upon her patient breast, making their way 
With those of nobler bulk: 
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage 
The gentle Thetis, and, anon, behold. 
The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut, 
' Bounding between the two moist elements. 
Like Perseus' horse: where's then the saucy boat. 
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now 
Co-rivalled greatness? either to harbor fled. 
Or made a toast for Neptune. Even so 
Doth valor's show, and valor's worth, divide 
In storms of fortune : for, in her ray and brightness 
The herd hath more annoyance by the breese, / 

Than by the tiger ; but when the splitting wind 
Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks. 
And flies fled under shade, why then, the thing of cour- 
age. 
As rous'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize. 
And with an accent tun'd in self -same key. 
Replies to chiding fortune. 

— Troilus and Cressida^ Act ], Sc. 3. 

True valor still a true respect should have; 

— The Rape of Lucrece 29th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BRAVERY. 

The valiant heart's not whipt out of his trade. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. I 

Boldness, be my friend; 
Arm me, audacity from head to foot! 

— C^mbeline, Act ], Sc. 6. 

A Roman with a Roman's heart can suffer. 

— C]^mbelme, Act 5, 5c. 5. 

Cowards die many times before their death; 
The valiant never taste of death but once. 

— Julius CcBsar, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

The better part of valor is discretion. 

—King Henr^ IV. {Part i) , Act 5, Sc. 4. 

. . . fearless minds climb soonest unto crowns. 

King Henry VI. (Part Hi) ,Act4, Sc. 7. 

Where I could not be honest, 
I never yet was valiant: 

— King Lear, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

COWARDICE. 

Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base : 
Nature hath meal and bran ; contempt and grace. 

— C]^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

COWARDICE. 

He jests at scars, that never felt a wound. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... coward dogs 
Most spend their mouths, when what they seem to 

threaten 
Runs far before them. 

— King Henry V., Act 2, 5c. 4. 

Cowards die many times before their death; 
The vahant never taste of death but once. 

— Julius Ccssar, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

LOVE. 

Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; 
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . . ' tis not strange. 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change; 
For ' tis a question left us yet to prove. 
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

The ostentation of our love, which, left unshown 
Is often held unlov'd : 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

Love is not love, 
When it is mingled with regards, that stand 
Aloof from the entire point. 

— King Lear, Act ], Sc. 1 . 

He's mad, that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a 
horse's health, a boy's love, 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

Love is a smoke, raised with the fume of sighs; 
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lover's eyes; 
Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears : — 
.... a madness most discreet, 
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

.... love .... pricks like thorn. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act \ , Sc. 4. 

Love goes toward love, as school-boys from their books ; 
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night. 
Like softest music to attending ears ! 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

. . . .what love can do, that dares love attempt; 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

if love be rough with you, be rough with love; 
Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down. — 
— Romeo and Juliet, Act ], Sc. 4. 

.... young men's love, then, lies. 
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. 

— Romeo and Juliet^ Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .love's herald's should be thoughts. 
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams 
Driving black shadows over lowering hills: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 5. 

I These violent delights have violent ends. 
And in their triumph die : like fire and powder. 
Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey 
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness. 
And in the taste confounds the appetite : 
Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; 

I Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

.... if love be blind. 
It best agrees with night. 

—Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

. . . .stony limits cannot hold love out: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Things base and vile, holding no quantity. 
Love can transpose to form and dignity. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

My bounty is as boundless as the sea. 
My love is deep; the more I give to thee, 
The more I have, for both are infinite. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... how sweet is love itself possess'd. 
When but love's shadows are so rich in joy ! 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

.... love is blind, and lovers cannot see 
The pretty follies that themselves commit; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 6 

Tell me, where is fancy bred. 
Or in the heart, or in the head? 
How begot, how nourished? 
Reply, reply. 

It is engender'd in the eyes. 
With gazing fed; and fancy dies 
In the cradle where it lies. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. 

— Romeo and JulieU Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

For lovers ever run before the clock. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

. . . .ten times faster Venus' pigeons fly 
To seal love's bonds new-made, than they are wont 
To keep obliged faith unforfeited! 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

The course of true love never did run smooth; 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. 
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind: 
Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste : 
Wings,^and-4KiLj£yes, figu_re_.unheedy haste : 
And therefore is love said to be a child. 
Because in choice he is so oft beguil'd. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ],' Sc. 1 

.... reason and love keep little company together 
now-a-days. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

... .a surfeit of the sweetest things 
The deepest loathing to the stomach brings; 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

Love takes the meaning in love's conference. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Cupid is a knavish lad, 
Thus to make poor females mad. 
— Midsummer NighCs Dream, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Lovers, and madmen, have such seething brains. 
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend 
More than cool reason ever comprehends. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .true lovers, run into strange capers; 

— As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

The sight of lovers feedeth those in love. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

To love is to be all made of sighs and tears; 
It is to be all made of faith and service; 

It is to be all made of fantasy. 

All made of passion, and all made of wishes; 
\A11 adoration, duty, and obedience; 
(All humbleness, all patience, and impatience; 

All purity, all trial, all observance; 

—As You Like It, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

51 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

.... they say, base men being in love have then a 
nobility in their natures more than is native to them., — 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Fire that's closest kept burns most of all. 
— Tn>o Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

.... how wayward is this foolish love. 
That like a testy babe will scratch the nurse. 
And presently, all humbled, kiss the rod. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

O! how this spring of love resembleth 
The uncertain glory of an April day. 

Which now shows all the beauty of the sun. 
And by and by a cloud takes all away. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

They do not love, that do not show their love. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... .they love least, that let men know their love. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... love is blind. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Love can feed on the air. 
' — Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. \. 

52 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

. . . .parting strikes poor lovers dumb. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... for love delights in praises. 
— Ttvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

. . . .love's a mighty lord, 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

For love, thou know'st, is full of jealousy. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

For love is still most precious to itself; 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

Thou would'st as soon go kindle fire with snow. 
As seek to quench the fire of love with words. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

For scorn at first makes after-love the more. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

.... for love is like a child. 
That longs for everything that he can come by, 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

.... lovers break not hours. 
Unless it be to come before their time. 
So much they spur their expedition. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

Hope is a lover's staff; 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

, . .love will not be spurr'd to what it loathes. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, 5c. 2. 

This weak impress of love is as a figure 
Trench'd in ice, which with an hour's heat 
Dissolves to water, and doth lose his form. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

I hold him but a fool that will endanger 
His body for a girl that loves him not: 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, 5c. 4. 

The more thou damm'st love up, the more it burns. 

The current, that with gentle murmur glides. 

Thou know'st, being stopp'd, impatiently doth rage; 

But, when his fair course is not hindered. 

He makes sweet music with the enamel'd stones. 

Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge 

He overtaketh in his pilgrimage; 

And so by many winding nooks he strays 

With willing sport to the wide ocean. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, 5c. 7. 

Times goes on crutches, till love have all his rites. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

Friendship is constant in all other things. 

Save in the office and affairs of love: 

Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues ; 

Let every eye negotiate for itself. 

And trust no agent, for beauty is a witch. 

Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

That she belov'd knows nought, that knows not this. 
Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is : 
That she was never yet, that ever knew 
Love got so sweet as when desire did sue. 
Therefore, this maxim out of love I teach: \ 

Achievement is command; ungain'd, beseech: | 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act \, Sc. 2. 

... .to be wise, and love. 
Exceeds man's might; that dwells with gods above. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Things out of hope are compass'd oft with venturing 
Chiefly in love, whose leave exceeds commission: 
Affection faints not like a pale-fac'd coward. 
But then woos best, when most his choice is froward. 
— Venus and Adonis, 95th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

The expedition of violent love 
Out-ran the pauser reason. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

O, spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou. 

That, notwithstanding thy capacity 

Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there. 

Of what validity and pitch soe'er. 

But falls into abatement and low price, 

Even in a minute. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers. 
—Twelfth Night, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 3, 5c. L 

A murderous guilt shows not itself more soon 
Than love that would seem hid: love's night is noon 
—Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Love keeps his revels where there are but twain ; 

— Venus and Adonis, 2]st verse. 

Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage; 
But when the heart's attorney once is mute. 
The client breaks, as desperate in his suit, 

— Venus and Adonis, 56th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

.... lovers say, the heart hath treble wrong. 
When it is barr'd the aidance of the tongue. 

— Venus and Adonis, 55th verse. 

Affection is a coal that must be cool'd ; 
Else, suffer'd, it will set the heart on fire. 

The sea hath bounds, but deep desire hath none:^, 
*" — Venus and Adonis, 65th verse. 

Love is a spirit, all compact of fire. 

Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire. 

— Venus and Adonis, 25th verse. 

Were beauty under twenty locks kept fast. 
Yet love breaks through, and picks them all at last. 
— Venus and Adonis, 96th verse. 

.... love can comment upon every woe. 

— Venus and Adonis, \]9th verse. 

Love's reason's without reason: 

— C])mheline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind ; 
A lover's ear will hear the lowest sound. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

.... rhymes are guards on wanton Cupid's hose. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

57 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

.... none offend, where all alike do dote. 

— Loves Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

. . . .love, that comes too late. 
Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried. 
To the great sender turns a sour offence. 
Crying, ' That's good that's gone.' 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust. 
Destroy our friends, and after weep their dust: 
Our own love, waking, cries to see what's done. 
While shameful hate sleeps out the afternoon. 

—All's Well That Ends Well, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

... .all impediments in fancy's course 

Are motives of more fancy ; 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

. . . .love is holy, 
—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Prosperity's the very bond of love. 

Whose fresh complexion, and whose heart together. 

Affliction alters. 

— Winte/s Tale, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

Love thrives not in the heart that shadows dreadeth: 
— The Rape of Lucrece, 39th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. \ 

Sweet love, I see, changing his property, \ 

Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate: 1 

—King Richard II., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

When love begins to sicken and decay, 
-\ It useth an enforced ceremony. y 

— Julius C&sar, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Affection is not rated from the heart: 

If love have touch'd you, nought remains 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

. . . .though love use reason for his physician, he 
admits him not for his counsellor. 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act!, Sc. 1. 

In love, the heavens themselves do guide the state : 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

O powerful love! that in some respects, makes 
a beast a man; in some other, a man a beast. 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5, 5c. 5. 

O ! learn to read what silent love hath writ : 
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit. 

— Sonnets XXIII. 

... .it is a greater grief 
To bear love's wrong, than hate's known injury. 

— Sonnets XL. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

O! love's best habit is in seeming trust, 
And age in love loves not to have years told : 
^ —Sonnets CXXXVIIJ, 

So true a fool is love, that in your will 
Though you do anything he thinks no ill. 

— Sonnets LVll. 

That love is merchandiz'd, whose rich esteeming 
The owner's tongue doth publish every where. 

— Sonnets ClI. 

Love is not love. 
Which alters when it alteration finds, 
Or bends with the remover to remove : 
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark. 
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; 
It is the star to every wandering bark. 
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 
Within his bending sickle's compass come; 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks. 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 

— Sonnets CXVI. 

.... ruin'd love, when it is built anew. 
Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater. 

— Sonnets CXIX. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 5\st verse. 

Thou blind fool. Love, what dost thou to mine eyes. 

That they behold, and see not what they see? 

They know what beauty is, see where it lies. 

Yet what the best is, take the worst to be. 

If eyes, corrupt by over-partial looks, 

Be anchor'd in the bay where all men ride. 

Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks. 

Whereto the judgment of my heart is tied? 

Why should my heart think that a several plot. 

Which my heart knows the wide world's common place? 

Or mine eyes seeing this, say, this is not. 

To put fair truth upon so foul a face? 

In things right true my heart and eyes have erred. 
And to this false plague are they now transferred. 

—Sonnets CXXXVIL 

My love is as a fever, longing still 
For that which longer nurseth the disease; 
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill. 
The uncertain sickly appetite to please. 

—Sonnets CXLVIL 

Love is too young to know what conscience is; 
Yet who knows not, conscience is born of love? 

— Sonnets CLI. 
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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

Love's fire heats water, water cools not love. 

— Sonnets CLIV. 

O me! what eyes hath love put in my head. 
Which have no correspondence with true sight! 
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled. 
That censures falsely what they see aright? 
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote. 
What means the world to say it is not so? 
If it be not, then love doth well denote 
Love's eye is not so true as all men's: no. 
How can it? O! how can love's eye be true, 
That is so vex'd with watching and with tears? 
No marvel, then, though I mistake my view; 
The sun itself sees not, till heaven clears. 
O cunning love ! with tears thou keep'st me blind 
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find. 

—Sonnets CXLVIIl. 

... .at lovers' perjuries. 
They say, Jove laughs, 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . , .sweet love is food for fortune's tooth. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 4, Sc. 5. 

.... looks kill love, and love by looks reviveth : 

— Venus and Adonis, 78th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOVE. 

. . . .how want of love tormenteth? 

— Venus and Adonis, 34th verse, 

. . . .love's best habit is a soothing tongue, 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, Is/ verse. 

. .age, in love, loves not to have years told. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, ]st verse. 

Love, whose month was ever May. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 1 7th verse. 

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath. 
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

GRIEF. 

■— -*• 

The violence of either grief or joy 

Their own enactures with themselves destroy : 

— Hamlet, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 
But in battalions. 

—Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 5. 

. . . .you do surely bar the door upon your own 
liberty, if you deny your griefs to your friend. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident. 

— HamleU Act 3, Sc. 2. 

To show an unfelt sorrow is an office 
Which the false man does easy. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament; 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

One woe doth tread upon another's heel, 

■I . — Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 7. 

n 

o alone suffers sufl^ers most i' the mind, 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

. . . .sad hours seem long. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act ], Sc. I. 

. . . .one fire burns out another's burning. 
One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act \, Sc. 2. 

. . . .some grief shows much of love; 
But much of grief shows still some want of wit. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

Take thou some new infection to thy eye, 
And the rank poison of the old will die. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act ], Sc. 2. 

64 




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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

One desperate grief cures with another's languish. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act ] , Sc, 2. 

Dry sorrow drinks our blood. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

For though fond nature bids us all lament. 
Yet nature's tears are reason's merriment. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Sc. 5. 

One sorrow never comes but brings an heir p 
-That fftay succeed as his inheritor; y 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act \, Sc. 4. 

Sweet are the uses of adversity, 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .we are not all alone unhappy: 
This wide and universal theatre 
Presents more woeful pageants, than the scene 
Wherein we play in. 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

The robb'd that smiles steals something from the thief: 
He robs himself that spends a bootless grief. 

—Othello, Act ],Sc.3. 

When remedies are past, the griefs are ended 
By seeing the worst, which late on hopes depended. 

—Othello, Act 1,5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

To mourn a mischief that is past and gone 
Is the next way to draw new mischief on. 

—Othello, Act l,Sc. 3. 

On horror's head horrors accumulate; 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Cease to lament for that thou canst not help. 
And study help for that which thou lament'st. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

.... tears, there are no faces truer than those that 
are so washed; 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

The night is long that never finds the day. 

—Macbeth, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

.... to strange sores strangely they strain the cure. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Sc. I . 

. . . .men 
Can counsel and speak comfort to that grief 
Which they themselves not feel; but, tasting it. 
Their counsel turns to passion, which before 
Would give preceptial medicine to rage. 
Fetter strong madness in a silken thread. 
Charm ache with air, and agony with words. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

. . . .every one can master a grief, but he that 
has it. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . . ' tis all men's office to speak patience 
To those that wring under the load of sorrow. 
But no man's virtue, nor sufficiency. 
To be so moral when he shall endure 
The like himself. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act5,Sc.]. 

.... there was never yet philosopher. 
That could endure the tooth-ache patiently. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act5,Sc. 1 . 

To weep with them that weep doth ease some deal. 
But sorrow flouted at is double death. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Sorrow concealed, like an oven stopp'd. 
Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Friends should associate friends in grief and woe. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

. . . .sorrow, that is couch' d in seeming gladness. 
Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act ], Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

Those wounds heal ill that men do give themselves. 
— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Give sorrow words ; the grief, that does not speak. 
Whispers the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break. 

—Macbeth, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

Things without all remedy 
Should be without regard: what's done, is done. 

—Macbeth, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Sorrow breaks seasons, and reposing hours. 
Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night. 

—King Richard III., Act], Sc. 4. 

. . . .none can cure our harms by wailing them 

—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 2. 

An oven that is stopp'd, or river stay'd, 
Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage : 
So of concealed sorrow may be said, 

— Venus and Adonis, 56th verse. 

. . . .past cure is still past care. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

. . . .woe doth the heavier sit. 
Where it perceives it is but faintly borne. 

—King Richard II., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

/ 
Mirth cannot move a soul in agony, ' 

— Loves Lahours Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

Honest plain words best pierce the ear of grief; 

— Loves Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

A heavy heart bears not a nimble tongue. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

■"' .... grief boundeth where it falls, 
f ot with the empty hoUowness, but weight : 

—King Richard IL, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... grief makes one hour ten. 

—King Richard IL, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

... .a touch more rare 
Subdues all pangs, all fears. 

— C}^mbeline, Act \, Sc. 1. 

.... notes of sorrow, out of tune, are worse 
Than priests and fanes that lie. 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 



/ 




. . . gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite 
The man that mocks at it, and sets it light. 

— King Richard IL, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

. . . .misery makes sport to mock itself: 

— King Richard II. , Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

/ GRIEF. \ 

. . . .who can hold a fire in his hand. 
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus? 
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite. 
By bare imagination of a feast? 
^ Or wallow naked in December snow, 

' By thinking on fantastic summer's heat? 

O! no! the apprehension of the good. 
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse : 
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more. 
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore 

—King Richard II., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows, 
\ Which show like grief itself, but are not so : 

For sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears. 
Divides one thing entire to many objects; 
Like perspectives, which, rightly gazed upon. 
Show nothing but confusion : eyed awry. 
Distinguish form: 

—King Richard II., Act 2, 5c. 2. 

. . . .wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes. 
But presently prevent the ways to wail. 

—King Richard II., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

.... dry your eyes ; 
Tears show their love, but want their remedies. 

—King Richard II., Act 3, 5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

Come, come, in wooing sorrow let's be brief. 
Since, wedding it, there is such length in grief 

— King Richard II., Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Let us not burthen our remembrance with 
A heaviness that's gone. 

— The Tempest, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

What's gone, and what's past help. 
Should be past grief: 

— Winter's Tale, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... grief, that's beauty's canker, - 

— The Tempest, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

. . . .grief is proud, and makes his owner stoop. 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

Thus, sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud; 
And after summer evermore succeeds 
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold: 
So, cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet. 

—King Henr^ VI. {Part ii) , Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Sad souls are slain in merry company; I 

Grief best is pleas'd with grief's society : | 

True sorrow then is feelingly suffic'd, 
When with like semblance it is sympathiz'd. 

— The Rape of Lucrece 1 59//i verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

* Tis double death to drown in ken of shore ; 
He ten times pines, that pines beholding food; 
To see the salve doth make the wound ache more; 
Great grief grieves m.ost at that would do it good : 

— The Rape of Lucrece, \60th verse. 

Deep woes roll forward like a gentle flood. 

Who, being stopp'd, the bounding banks o'erflows: 
Grief dallied with nor law nor limit knows. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 60th verse. 

To see sad sights moves more than hear them told. 

For then the eye interprets to the ear 

The heavy motion that it doth behold. 

When every part of woe doth bear : 

' Tis but a part of sorrow that we hear; 

Deep sounds make lesser noise than shallow fords. 
And sorrow ebbs, being blown with wind of words. 
— The Rape of Lucrece, ]90th verse. 

For sorrow, like a heavy hanging bell. 

Once set on ringing, with his own weight goes; 

Then little strength rings out the doleful knell: 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 2\4th verse. 

Sleep seldom visits sorrow, when it doth. 
It is a comforter. 

— The Tempest, Act 2, So. 1. 
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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GRIEF. 

Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining : 
Though woe be heavy, yet it seldom sleeps; 
And they that watch see time how slow it creeps. 
__ .. — /piiQ Rape of Lucrece, 225th verse. 

It easeth some, though none it ever cured. 
To think their dolor others have endured. 

— The Rape of Lucrece 226th verse. 

. . . .what a hell of witchcraft lies 
In the small orb of one particular tear! 
But with the inundation of the eyes 
What rocky heart to water will not wear? 
What breast so cold that is not warmed here? 

— Lover's Complaint, 42nd verse. 

For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done. 

—King Richard IL, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

. . . .you do, surely, but bar the door upon your 
own liberty, if you deny your griefs to your friend. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead; 
excessive grief the enemy to the living. 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act\,Sc.\. 

73 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

JOY. 

Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy. 

— Sonnets VIII. 

The violence of either grief or joy 

Their own enactures with themselves destroy : 

—HamleU Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Grief joyj, joy .grieves, on slender accident. 
" — Hamlet^ Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament; 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Thus, sometimes hath the brightest day a could ; 
And after summer evermore succeeds 
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold: 
So, cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part ii). Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: 
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1. 



JEWELS. 

Dumb jewels often, in their silent kind 
More than quick words do move a woman's mind. 
— Tn>o Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

IMAGINATION. 

Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. 

—Hamlet, Act 3. Sc. 4. 

.... imagination bodies forth 
The forms of things unknown, 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Sc. I. 

Such tricks hath strong imagination. 
That, if it would but apprehend some joy. 
It comprehends some bringer of that joy ; 
Or in the night, imagining some fear. 
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear? 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

.... so full of shapes is fancy. 
That it alone is high-fantastical. 

—Twelfth Night, Act I, 5c. I. 

MISERY. 

misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. 
— The Tempest, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

For misery is trodden on by many, h 

And being low, never relieved by any. I 

— Venus and Adonis, 1 \Sth verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PAST. 

Past, and to come, seem best; things present, worst. 
—King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 1, Sc. 3. 



PRESENT. 

Past, and to come, seem best; things present, worst. 
—King Henry IV. (Part ii) , Act 1, Sc. 3. 

The present eye praises the present object: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

FUTURE. 

O God! that one might read the book of fate. 

And see the revolution of the times 

Make mountains level, and the continent. 

Weary of solid firmness, melt itself 

Into the sea! and, other times, to see 

The beachy girdle of the ocean 

Too wide for Neptune's hips ; how chances mock. 

And changes fill the cup of alteration 

With divers liquors! O, if this were seen. 

The happiest j'^outh, viewing his progress through. 

What perils past, what crosses to ensue. 

Would shut the book, and sit him down and die. 

—King Henry IV. (Part ii) , Act 3, Sc. 1. 

76 



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Past, and to come, seem best; things present, worst. 
—King Henr^ IV. {Part ii) , Act 1, Sc. 3. 

WORTHLESSNESS. 

Ill blows the wind that profits no body, 
—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 5. 

ADVANCEMENT. 

. . . .too much honor. 
. . . . ' tis a burden 
Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven ! 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

CORRUPTION. 

Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice. 
And oft ' tis seen, the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law ; but ' tis not so above : 
There is no shuffling, there the action lies 
In his true nature; and we ourselves compell'd. 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults. 
To give in evidence. What then? what rests? 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Corruption wins not more than honesty. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

77 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PRAYER. 
Words without thoughts never to heaven go. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

When holy and devout reHgious m^n 

Are at their beads, ' tis much to draw them thence ; 

So sweet is zealous contemplation. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, Sc. 7. 

O happy vantage of a kneeling knee! 

— King Richard J I., Act 5, 5c. 3^ 

We, ignorant of ourselves. 
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers 
Deny us for our good; so find we profit 
By losing of our prayers. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 1 

CUSTOM. 

. .use almost can change the stamp of nature, 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

New customs. 
Though they be never so ridiculous. 
Nay, let ' em be unmanly, yet are follow'd. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

... .use doth breed a habit in a man! 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

78 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CUSTOM. 

What custom wills, in all things should we do't. 
The dust on antique time would lie unswept. 
And mountainous error be too highly heap'd 
For truth to o'er-peer. 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .the breach of custom 
Is breach of all. 

— C^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

.... those that are good manners at the court are 
as ridiculous in the country, as the behavior of the 
country is most mockable at the court. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

O place! O form! 
How often dost thou with thy case, thy habit. 
Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls 
To thy false seeming! 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

FOLLY. 

. . . .full oft we see 
Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly. 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 1, 5c. L 

.... a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. 

— Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FOLLY. 

Our indiscretion sometime serves us well, 
1 When our deep plots do pall ; 

— Hamlet, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

We call a nettle, but a nettle ; and 
The faults of fools, but folly. 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .manhood is call'd foolery, when it stands 
Against a falling fabric. 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

He, that a fool doth very wisely hit. 
Doth very foolishly, 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken; 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

. . . .what is done cannot be now amended: 
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes. 
Which after-hours give leisure to repent. 

— King Richard III., Act 4, Sc. 4. 

He weeds the corn, and still lets grow the weeding. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act ], Sc. 1. 

FOOLS. 

Fools are not mad folks. 

— C^^mbeline, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FOOLS. 

Old fools are babes again, and must be us'd 
With checks 

— King Lear, Act 1 , Sc. 3. 

The more pity, that fools may not speak wisely, 
what wise men do foolishly. 

—As You Like It, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

. . . .the dulness of the fool is the whetstone of 
the wits. 

—As You Like It, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

CRISIS. 

. . , .diseases, desperate grown. 
By desperate appliance are reliev'd. 

— Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 3, 

Untimely storms make men expect a dearth. 

—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Strong reasons make strange actions. 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Before the curing of a strong disease. 
Even in the instant of repair and health. 
The fit is strongest: evils that take leave. 
On their departure most of all show evil: 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CRISIS. 

What cannot be eschew'd must be embrac'd. 

— Men}) Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

SATISFACTION. 

He is well paid, that is well-satisfied; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

MURDER. 

Murder's as near to lust as flame to smoke. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act ], Sc. 1. 

... .we shall repent each drop of blood. 
That hot rash haste so indiscreetly shed. 

— King John, Act2, Sc .]. 

To kill, I grant is sin's extremest gust; 
But in defence, by mercy, ' tis most just. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

. . . .the great King of kings 
Hath in the tables of his law commanded. 
That thou shalt do no murder: and wilt thou then, 
Sprun at his edict, and fulfil a man's? 
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hands, 
To hurl upon their heads that break his law. 

—King Richard III., Act], Sc. 4. 

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MURDER. 

.... murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 
With most mi'-aculous organ. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

... .he that steeps his safety in true blood 
Shall find but bloody safety, and untrue. 

— King John Act 3, Sc. 4. 

There is no sure foundation set on blood. 
No certain life achiev'd by others' death. 

— King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

What surety of the world, what hope, what stay. 
When this was now a king, and now is clay? 

— King John, Act5,Sc. 7. 

Treason and murder ever kept together. 
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose. 
Working so grossly in a natural cause. 
That admiration did not whoop at them: 

— King Henry V., Act 2, 5c. 2. 

Great men oft die by vile bezonians: 
A Roman sworder and banditto slave 
Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand 
Stabb'd Julius Caesar; savage islanders 
Pompey the great, and Suffolk dies by pirates. 

—King Henry VI. (Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MURDER. 

. . . .murder cannot be hid long; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .murder cannot be hid long; truth will out. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

ACTORS. 

... .in a theatre, the eyes of men. 
After a well-graced actor leaves the stage. 
Are idly bent on him that enters next. 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious; 

—King Richard II., Act 5, 5c. 2. 

FLATTERY. 

For flattery is the bellows blows up sin; 
The thing the which is flatter'd, but a spark. 
To which that blast gives heat and stronger glowing; 
— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act \, Sc. 2. 

O, that men's ears should be 

To counsel deaf, but not to flattery! 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, 5c. 2. 
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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FLATTERY. 

... .he that loves to be flattered is worthy o' the 
flatterer. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

.... when the means are gone that buy this praise. 
The breath is gone whereof this praise is made: 

— Timon of Athens, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

He that no more must say is Hsten'd more. 
Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose; 
— King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .when the hon fawns upon the lamb. 
The lamb will never cease to follow him. 
—King Henry VI. {Part Hi) ,Act4, Sc. 8. 

MIDNIGHT. 

' Tis now the very witching time of night. 

When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out 

Contagion to this world: 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Now o'er the one-half world 
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 
The curtain'd sleep ; 

-Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BOASTING. 

Thev are but beggars that can count their worth; 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

. . . .there's not one wise man among twenty that 
will praise himself. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

For when no friends are by men praise themselves 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

... .to such as boasting show their scars, 
A mock is due. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 4, Sc. 5. 

To things of sale a seller's praise belongs, 

— Love's Labour s Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Who knows himself a braggart ] 
Let him fear this: for it will come to pass. 
That every braggart shall be found an ass. 

—AlUs Well That Ends Well Act 4, Sc. 3. 

IDLENESS. 

. . . .then we bring forth weeds. 
When our quick minds lie still ; 

— Antony and CleopatrOy Act 1, Sc. 2. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

IDLENESS. 

What pleasure, sir, find we in life, to lock it 
From action and adventure? 

— C})mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

... .weariness 
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth 
Finds the down pillow hard. 

— Cymbeline, Act 3, Sc. 6. 



INDUSTRY. 

.... things in motion sooner catch the eye. 
Than what not stirs. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

The sweat of industry would dry and die. 
But for the end it works to. 

— Cymbeline, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

. . . .weariness 
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth 
Finds the down pillow hard. 

— Cymbeline, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

He that runs fastest gets the ring. 

— Taming of the Shretv, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

NEWS. 

Though it be honest, it is never good 
To bring bad news: 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 5. 

. . , .give to a gracious message 
An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell 
Themselves when they be felt. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, 5c. 5. 

The nature of bad news infects the teller. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act \, Sc. 2. 

... .let Time's news 
Be known, when ' tis brought forth. 

—Winter's Tale, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily ; v 
If good, thou shamest the music of sweet news 
By playing it to me with so sour a face. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 5. 

. . . .the first bringer of unwelcome news 
Hath but a losing office; and his tongue 
Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, 
Remember'd tolling a departing friend. 

— King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 1, 5c. 1. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FACE. 

All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their 
hands are. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

HONOR. 

.... if I lose mine honor, 
I lose myself: 
— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

. . . .honor's train 
Is longer than his foreskirt. 

—King Henry VllL, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .honor we love. 
For who hates honor hates the gods above. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Life every man holds dear ; but the dear man 
Holds honor far more precious-dear than life. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Mine honor is my life; both grow in one: 
Take honor from me, and my life is done: 

—King Richard II., Act \, Sc. 1. 

A scar nobly got, or a noble scar, is a good livery 
of honor; 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act A, Sc. 5. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HONOR. 

.... as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds. 
So honor peereth in the meanest habit. 

— Taming of the Shren?, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap. 

To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon. 

Or dive into the bottom of the deep, 

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground. 

And pluck up drowned honour by the locks ; 

—King Henr^ IV. (Part i). Act 1, Sc. 3. 

. . . .divorce not wisdom from your honor. 

—King Henr^ IV. (Part n). Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Honor and beauty, in the owner's arms. 

Are weakly fortress'd from a world of harms. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 4th verse. 

HASTE. 

Celerity is never more admired. 
Than by the negligent. 
^^ — Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 7. 

; Wisely, and slow: they stumble that run fast. >. 
\^ — Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. \ 

Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure ; 

— Measure for Measure, Act5, Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HASTE. 

.... sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste. 
—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 4. 

For violent fires soon burn out themselves; 
Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; 
[ He tires betimes, that spurs too fast betimes; 
1 With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder: f 

— King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

MEDICINE. 

By medicine life may be prolong'd, yet death 
Will seize the doctor too. 

— C^mbeline, Act 5. Sc. 5. 

WISDOM. 

Wisdom and fortune combating together. 
If that the former dare but what it can. 
No chance may shake it. 

— Anton}; and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 

. . . .when valor preys on reason 
It eats the sword it fights with. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, 5c. 13. 

To wisdom he's a fool that will not yield; 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WISDOM. 

Virtue and cunning were endowments greater 
Than nobleness and riches: 

— Pericles, Prince of T'^re, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. , . .wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man 
regards it. 

—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

.... full oft we see 
Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly. 

—Alls Well That End Well, Act 1 , Sc. 1 . 

. . , .wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss. 
But cheerily seek how to redress their harms. 

—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 5, Sc. 4. 

Sad pause and deep regard beseems the sage; 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 40th verse. 

IGNORANCE. 
Your ignorance which finds not, till it feels 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

. . . .ignorance is the curse of God, 
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven, 

—King Henry VI. (Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 7. 

.... the eyes of the ignorant 
More learned than the ears, 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

92 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

IGNORANCE. 

There may be in the cup 
A spider steep'd, and one may drink depart 
And yet partake no venom ; for his knowledge 
Is not infected ; but if one present 
The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known 
How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides. 
With violent hefts. 

— Winter's Tale, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

ECONOMY. 
Have more than thou showest, 

— King Lear, Act ], Sc. 4. 

Fast bind, fast find, 

A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 5. 

SPENDTHRIFT. 
She that herself will sliver and disbranch 
From her material sap, perforce must wither. 
And come to deadly use. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

RIDING. 
Ride more than thou goest, 

— King Lear, Act \, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

^^ REPENTANCE. 

I Woe, that too late repents, 

\ — Kjng Lear, Act ], Sc. 4 

Who by. repentance is not satisfied, 

Is nor of heaven, nor earth ; for these are pleased. 

— Ttpo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeased : 

— Ttvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

^ INGRATITUDE. 

/ Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, 
I More hideous, when thou show'st thee in a child, 
Y Than the sea-monster! 
N. — King Lear, Act 1, Sc. 4. 

I ... .sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 

To have a thankless child ! 
'-- — King Lear, Act jy^Sc. 4. 

Ingratitude is monstrous. 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

CLOTHING. 

Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor: 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

94 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CLOTHING. 

Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan 
The outward habit by the inward man. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. 
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy: , 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man; / 

~ — '^^" — Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 



JUDGEMENT. 

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement. 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Give thy thoughts no tongue. 
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 

—Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 3. 



... .men's judgements are 
A parcel of their fortunes 

-Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 



Wit, .... those wits, that think they have thee, 
do very oft prove fools; 

—Tivelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MONEY. 

.... when the means are gone that buy this praise. 
The breath is gone whereof this praise is made: 

— Timon of Athens, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Prosperity's the very bond of love, 

Whose fresh complexion, and whose heart together. 

Affliction alters. 

—Winter's Tale, Act 4, 5c. 4. 

... .he that wants money, means, and content, is 
without three good friends; 

—As You Like It, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .that same purpose-changer, that sly devil, 
That broker that still breaks the pate of faith, 
That daily break-vow, he that wins of all. 
Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids, 
Who helving no external thing to lose 
But the word maid, cheats the poor maid of that; 
That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling Commodity, 
Commodity, the bias of the world ; 
The world, who of itself is peised well. 
Made to run even, upon even ground. 
Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias. 
This sway of motion, this Commodity, 
Makes it take head from all indifferency. 
From all direction, purpose, course, intent: 

— King John, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MONEY. 

.... nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal. 
— Taming of the Shrew, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Money is a good soldier, sir, and will on. 

— Merr^ Wives of Windsor, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

O, what a world of vile ill-favor'd faults 

Looks handsome in three hundred pounds a year! 

— Merr]^ Wives of Windsor, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

How quickly nature falls into revolt. 

When gold becomes her object! 

For this the foolish over-careful fathers 

Have broke their sleep with thoughts. 

Their brains with care, their bones with industry : 

For this they have engrossed and piled up 

The canker'd heaps of strange-achieved gold; 

For this they have been thoughtful to invest 

Their sons with arts, and martial exercises : 

When, like the bee, tolling from every flower 

The virtuous sweets, 

Our thighs pack'd with wax, our mouths with honey. 

We bring it to the hive; and, like the bees. 

Are murder'd for our pains. 

— King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 5. 

Who steals my purse steals trash. 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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• GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MONEY. 

Plate sin with gold. 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

. . . .the learned pate 
Ducks to the golden fool: 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Ah, when the means are gone that buy this praise. 
The breath is gone whereof this praise is made: 

— Timon of Athens, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt. 
Since riches point to misery and contempt? 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

And when great treasure is the meed proposed. 
Though death be adjunct, there's no death supposed. 
— The Rape of Lucrece, \9th verse. 

I Words are easy, like the wind; 
Faithful friends are hard to find: 
Every man will be thy friend, I 

Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend; I 
But if store of crowns be scant. 
No man will supply thy want. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 2]st verse. 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MONEY. 
If that one be prodigal. 
Bountiful they will him call. 
And with such like flattering, 
* Pity but he were a king.' 
If he be addict to vice. 
Quickly him they will entice : 
If to women he be bent. 
They have at commandment; 
But if fortune once do frown, 1 
Then, farewell his great renown: 
They that fawn'd on him before 
Use his company no more. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 2]st verse. 

Through tatter' d clothes small vices do appear; 
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

RICHES. 

. . . .place, riches and favor. 

Prizes of accident as oft as merit: 

Which, when they fall, as being slippery standers. 

The love that lean'd on them, as slippery too, 

Do one pluck down another, and together 

Die in the fall. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

RICHES. 
Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold 

Will lug your priests and servants from your sides. 

Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads. 

This yellow slave 

Will knit and break religions; bless th' accurs'd; 

Make the hoar leprosy adored; place thieves. 

And give them title, knee and approbation. 

With senators on the bench: this is it. 

That makes the wappen'd widow wed again: 

She, whom the spital-house, and ulcerous sores 

Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices 

To the April day again. 

— TimonofAthens,Act4,Sc.3. 

/'^ 

' ... .gold; worse poison to men's souls. 

Doing more murder in this loathsome world, \ 

V Than these poor compounds that thou may'st not sell: 

^s.^^^/^ ' — Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Sc. Xy 

( ' Tis not my profit that does lead mine honor ; 
I Mine honor, it. 
X.^ — Anton)) and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice, 
And oft ' tis seen, the wicked purse itself 
Buys out the law: but ' tis not so above; 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

RICHES. 

.... faults that are rich are fair. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

' Tis gold 

Which buys admittance ; oft it doth ; yea, and makes 

Diana's rangers, false themselves, yield up 

Their deer to the stand o' the stealer; and ' tis gold 

Which makes the true man kill'd, and saves the thief; 

Nay, sometime, hangs both thief and true man: w^hat 

Can it not do, and undo ? 

— C^mbeline, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Rich preys make true-men thieves ; 

— Venus and Adonis, 121 5/ verse. 

For w^ho not needs shall never lack a friend, 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . . ' tis not strange, 
That even our loves should v\^ith our fortunes change; 
For ' tis a question left us yet to prove, 
W hether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

POVERTY. 

I And who in want a hollow friend doth try, 

I Directly seasons him his enemy. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

POVERTY. 

A begging prince what beggar pities not? 

—King Richard III., Act 1 , Sc. 4. 

... .he that has no house to put his head in? such 
may rail against great buildings. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Poor and content is rich and rich enough; 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

. . . .when the butt is out, we will drink water; 

— The Tempest, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

Plate sin with gold, 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

HOME. 

He that has a house to put 's head in has a good 
head-piece. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . . ' tis ever common. 
That men are merriest when they are from home. 

—King Henry V., Act I, Sc. 2. 

... .he that has no house to put his head in? such 
may rail against great buildings. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

NECESSITY. 

Teach thy necessity to reason thus; 
There is no virtue like necessity. 

—King Richard IL, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

The art of our necessities is strange. 
That can make vile things precious. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .where the greater malady is fix'd. 
The lesser is scarce felt. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Thou'dst shun a bear. 
But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea, 
Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth. 

— King Lear, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

FAULTS. 

.... full oft ' tis seen. 
Our means secure us, and our mere defects 
Prove our commodities. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. I. 

They say, best men are moulded out of faults; 

— Measure for Measure, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

And oftentimes excusing of a fault 

Doth make the feault the worse by the excuse, 

—King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAULTS. 

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud; 
Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun. 
And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. 
All men make faults. 

— Sonnets XXXV. 

SLEEP. 

Our foster-nurse of nature is repose, 

■^King Lear, Act 4, 5c. 4. 

Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care. 
The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath. 
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course. 
Chief nourisher in life's feast. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

The crickets sing, and man's o'er-labor'd sense 
Repairs itself by rest. 

— C])mbeline, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

O gentle sleep, 
Nature's soft nurse, 
—King Hem]) IV. {Part ii). Act 3, 5c. \. 

/ Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye. 
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie ; 
\ — Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

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• GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SLEEP. 

Sleep seldom visits sorrow, when it doth. 
It is a comforter. 

— The Tempest, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

... .he that sleeps feels not the toothache: 

— C])mbelme, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

/ LIFE. 

CWhen we are born, we cry that we are come 
To this great stage of fools. 
— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

For death remember'd should be like a mirror. 
Who tells us, life's but breath; to trust it, error. 

— Pericles, Prince of Trye, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

.... from hour to hour we ripe and ripe. 
And then from hour to hour we rot and rot ; 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage. 
And then is heard no more: it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. 
Signifying nothing. 

—Macbeth, Act 5, 5c. 5. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIFE. 

All the world's a stage. 
And all the men and women merely players: 
They have their exits and their entrances. 
And one man in his time plays many parts. 
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant 
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. 
Then, the whining school-boy, with his satchel. 
And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
Unwillingly to school. And then, the lover. 
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress' eye-brow. Then, a soldier. 
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard. 
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel. 
Seeking the bubble reputation 

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice, 
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd. 
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut. 
Full of wise saws and modern instances; 
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts 
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon. 
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side. 
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide 
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice. 
Turning again toward childish treble pipes 
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all. 
That ends this strange eventful history, 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIFE. 

Is second childishness, and mere oblivion; 

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing. 
—As You Like It, Act 2, 5c. 7. 

A life's but a span; 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .how sour sweet music is. 
When time is broke, and no proportion kept ! 
So it is in the music of men's lives. 

— King Richard II., Act 5, Sc. 5. 

Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust? 
And, live we how we can, yet die we must. 

—King Henr^ VI. {Part Hi), Act 5, Sc. 2. 

.... the time of life is short ! 
To spend that shortness basely, were too long, 

—King Henrv IV. {Part i) ,Act5, Sc. 2. 

The aim of all is but to nurse the life 
With honor, wealth, and ease, in waning age; 
And in this aim there is such thwarting strife. 
That one for all, or all for one we gage; 
As life for honor in fell battles' rage; 

Honor for wealth, and oft that wealth doth cost 
The death of all, and all together lost. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 2]st verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIFE. 

Reason thus with Hfe: 
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing 
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art. 
Servile to all the skyey influences. 
That dost this habitation, where thou keep'st. 
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death's fool; 
For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun. 
And yet runn'st toward him still. Thou art not noble; 
For all the accommodations that thou bear'st 
Are nursed by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant ; 
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork 
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep. 
And that thou oft provokest ; yet grossly f ear'st 
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself; 
For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains 
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not; 
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get. 
And what thou hast, forget'st. Thou art not certain; 
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects. 
After the moon. If thou art rich, thou'rt poor; 
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows. 
Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey. 
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none; 
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire, 
The mere effusion of thy proper loins. 
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum, 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIFE. 
For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor 

age, 
But, as it were an after-dinner's sleep. 
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth 
Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms 
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich. 
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty. 
To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this 
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life 
Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear. 
That makes these odds all even. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, So. 1 . 

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore 

So do our minutes hasten to their end; 

Each changing place with that which goes before. 

In sequent toil all forwards do contend. 

Nativity, once in the main of light. 

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd. 

Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight, 

And time that gave doth now his gift confound. 

— Sonnets LX. 

We are such stuff 
As dreams are made on; and our little life 
Is rounded with a sleep. 

— The Tempest, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROA^E SHAKESPEARE 

LIFE. 

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good 
and ill together: our virtues would be proud, if our 
faults whipped them not ; and our crimes would despair, 
if they were not cherished by our virtues. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Life Is as tedious as a twice-told tale 
Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man; 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back. 

Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, 

A great-sized monster of ingratitudes: 

Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devour'd 

As fast as they are made, forgot as soon 

As done. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool ; 
And time, that takes survey of all the world. 
Must have a stop. 

—King Henr^ IV., Act 5, Sc. 4. 



4- d 




Report is changeable. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 1. "\ 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

RUMOR. 

Rumor is a pipe 
Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures; 
And of so easy and so plain a stop. 
That the blunt monster with uncounted heads. 
The still discordant wavering multitude. 
Can play upon it. 

— King Hem]) IV. {Part ii) , Induction. 

Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo, 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 3, 5c. 1. 

BOOKS. 

That book in many's eyes doth share the glory. 
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story : 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Sc. 3= 

Me, poor man, my library 
Was dukedom large enough; 

— The Tempest, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

A book? O, rare one! 
Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment 
Nobler than that it covers: let thy effects 
So follow, to be most unlike our courtiers. 
As good as promise. 

— Cymbeline, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MIND. 

Our bodies are gardens; to the which, our wills 
are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow 
lettuce ; set hyssop, and weed up thyme ; supply it with 
one gender of herbs, or distract it with many; either 
to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with indus- 
try; why, the power and corrigible authority of this 
lies in our wills. If the balance of our lives had not 
one scale of reason to poise another of sensuality, the 
blood and baseness of our natures would conduct us to 
most preposterous conclusions: but we have reason to 
cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted 
lusts ; 

—Othello, Act l,Sc. 3. 

.... nature crescent, does not grow alone 
In thews and bulk ; but, as this temple waxes. 
The inward service of the mind and soul 
Grows wide withal. 

—Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 3. 

, . . . ' tis the mind that makes the body rich ; 

— Taming of the Shrerv, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

VICE. 
O, what authority and show of truth 
Can cunning sin cover itself withal! 
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

When devils will their blackest sins put on. 
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows, 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .the devil hath power 
To assume a pleasing shape; 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 

An evil soul, producing Tioly witness. 

Is like a villain with a smiling cheek; 

A goodly apple rotten at the heart: 

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! 

— Merchant of Venice, Act ], Sc. 3. 

.... foul deeds will rise. 
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. 

— Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 2. 

For in the fatness of these pursy times. 
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, 

—Hamlet, Act 3, 5c. 4. 

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, 
And vice sometime's by action dignified. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Few love to hear the sins they love to act; 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act ], Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; 
Filths savor but themselves. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Fools do those villains pity, who are punish'd 
Ere they have done their mischief. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

. . . .our pleasant vices 
Make instruments to plague us: 

— King Lear, Act 5, 5c. 3. 

. . . .when we in our viciousness grow hard, — 
O misery on't! — the wise gods seel our eyes. 
In our own filth drop our clear judgments ; make us 
Adore our errors; laugh at us, while we strut 
To our confusion. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, 5c. 13. 

Men, that make 
Envy and crooked malice nourishment. 
Dare bite the best. 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 5, 5c. 3. 

For vice repeated is like the wandering wind. 
Blows dust in others' eyes, to spread itself; 
And yet the end of all is bought thus dear, 
The breath is gone, and the sore eyes see clear: 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act \, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

Men's evil manners live in brass ; their virtues 
We write in water. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 
So horrid, as in woman. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Kings are earth's gods; in vice their law's their will, 
— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act ], Sc. 1. 

One sin, I know, another doth provoke ; 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act ] , Sc. 1 . 

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall: 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

.... though no physician ; 
Deep malice makes too deep incision. 

— King Richard 11. , Act \ , Sc. 1. 

when rich villains have need of poor ones, 
poor ones may make what price they will. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... to persist 
In doing VTong extenuates not wrong, 
But makes it much more heavy. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

.... every fault's condemn'd ere it be done : 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Things, bad begun, makes strong themselves by ill: 

—Macbeth, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame. 
—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 1. 

The love of wicked men converts to fear; 
That fear to hate ; and hate turns one, or both 
To worthy danger and deserved death. 
\ — King Richard II., Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .oftentimes excusing of a fault 
Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse, 
As patches, set upon a little breach. 
Discredit more in hiding of the fault. 
Than did the fault before it was so patch'd. 

— King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing. 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: 

— Julius Cczsar, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

The evil that men do lives after them ; 

The good is oft interred with their bones; 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

No man means evil but the devil, and we shall 
know him by his horns. 

— Merr^ Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

. . . .there's small choice in rotten apples. 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act ] , Sc. 1. 

There is some soul of goodness in things evil 
Would men observingly distil it out, 
For our bad neighbor makes us early stirrers. 
Which is both healthful, and good husbandry: 
Besides, they are our outward consciences. 
And preachers to us all ; admonishing 
That we should dress us fairly for our end. 
Thus may we gather honey from the weed, 
And make a moral of the devil himself. 

— King Henr^ V., Act 4, 5c. 1. 

. . . .there is nothing but roguery to be found in 
villainous man: 

—King Henry IV. {Part i) , Actl, Sc. 4. 

A rotten case abides no handling. 
— King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 4, Sc. 1. 

.... what mischiefs work the wicked ones ; 
Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby. 
—King Henry VI. {Part ii),Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICE. 

Some sins do bear their privilege on earth, 

— King John, Act 1, 5c. I. 

Th' offender's sorrow lends but weak relief 
To him that bears the strong offence's cross. 

—Sonnets XXXIV. 

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; 
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. 

— Sonnets XCIV. 

.... canker vice the sweetest buds doth love, 

— Sonnets LXX. 

Men's faults do seldom to themselves appear; 
Their own transgressions partially they smother: 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 91 sf verse. 

Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 
So horrid as in woman. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

VIRTUE. 

n 

. . . .the goodness that is chieb in beauty makes 
beauty briel in goodness; 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. 

—Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VIRTUE. 

For virtue's office never breaks men's troth. 

— Loves Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

From lowest place when virtuous things proceed. 
The place is dignified by the doer's deed: 
Where great additions swell's, and virtue none. 
It is a dropsied honor: 

—AWs Well That Ends Well Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .virtue that transgresses is but patched with 

sin; and sin that amends is but patched with virtue. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 

'Tis virtue that doth make women most admir'd; 

— King Henr^ VL {Part Hi), Act 1 , 5c. 4. 

He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 1, Sc. I. 

For in the fatness of these pursy times. 
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied. 
And vice sometime's by action dignified. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall: 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Virtue is beauty; 

— Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

NAME. 
What's in a name? that which we call a rose, 
By any other name would smell as sweet ; 

— Romeo and JulieU Act 2, Sc. 2. 



PARTING. 

. . . .parting is such sweet sorrow 

— Romeo and JulieU Act 2, 5c. 2. 

CARE. 

. . . .care killed a cat. 
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5. 5c. 1 . 

.... care's an enemy to life. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1 , 5c. 3. 

Care is no cure, but rather corrosive. 
For things that are not to be remedied. 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part i) , Act 3, 5c. 3. 

Care keeps his watch in every old man's eye. 
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie; 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, 5c. 3. 

^ EXILE. 

/ . . . .exile hath more terror in his look. 
Much more than death : 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PHILOSOPHY. 

Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

DEATH. 

The sense of death is most in apprehension; 
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon. 
In corporal sufferance finds a pang, as great 
As when a giant dies. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

By medicine life may be prolong'd, yet death 
Will seize the doctor too. 

— Cymbeline, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

' Tis a vile thing to die. 
When men are unprepared, and look not for it. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

. . . .though mean and mighty, rotting 
Together, have one dust, yet reverence. 
That angel of the world doth make distinction 
Of place ' tween high and low. 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Golden lads and girls all must. 

As chimney-sweepers, come to dust. 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DEATH. 

The sceptre, learning, physic, must 
All follow this, and come to dust. 

— C})mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

All lovers young, all lovers must 
Consign to thee, and come to dust. 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

.... nature doth abhor to make his bed 
With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead. 

— Cymbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

It were lost sorrow to wail one that's lost. 

—King Richard III., Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... they say the tongues of dying men 
Enforce attention like deep harmony: 
I Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain ; / 
For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain. / 
—King Richard II., Act 2, 5c. 1 . ' 

Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust? 
And, live we how we can, yet die we must. 

—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 5, Sc. 2. 

More are men's ends mark'd, than their lifes before : 

The setting sun, and music at the close. 
As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last, 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DEATH. 

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. 
/ — Macbeth, Act 5, 5c. 5. 

/ .... not a minute, king, that thou canst give : 
' Shorten my days thou canst with sullen sorrow. 
And pluck nights from me, but not lend a morrow ; 
Thou canst help time to furrow me with age, \ 

But stop no wrinkle in his pilgrimage; 
Thy word is current with him for my death. 
But dead, thy kingdom cannot buy my breath. 

—King Richard II., Act 1, So. 3. 

Though death be poor, it ends a mortal woe. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. I. 

. . . .within the hollow crown 
That rounds the mortal temples of a king, 
Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits. 
Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp. 
Allowing him a breath, a little scene. 
To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks, 
Infusing him with self and vain conceit. 
As if this flesh, which walls about our life. 
Were brass impregnable, and, humor'd thus, 
Comes at the last and with a little pin 
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king ! 

— King Richard II., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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r DEATH. 

The lion, dying, thrusteth forth his paw, 

And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage 

To be o'erpowered; 

— Kmg Richard IL, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead; 
excessive grief the enemy to the living. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act],Sc.]. 

For death remember'd should be like a mirror. 
Who tells us life's but breath, to trust it error. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act ], Sc. 1. 

He that dies, pays all debts : 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 

It seems to me most strange that men should fear; 

Seeing that death, a necessary end. 

Will come, when it will come. 

— Julius CcBsar, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

When beggars die, there are no comets seen; 
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of 
princes. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 2, Sc. 2 

Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image! 
— Taming of the Shreiv — Induction Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DEATH. 

Death is a fearful thing. 

And shamed Hfe a hateful. 

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where; 

To lie in cold obstruction and to rot; 

This sensible warm motion to become 

A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit 

To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside 

In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice; 

To be imprison'd in the viewless winds. 

And blown with restless violence round about 

The pendent world; or to be worse than worst 

Of those that lawless and incertain thought 

Imagine howling : — ' tis too horrible ! 

The weariest and most loathed worldly life 

That age, ache, penury and imprisonment 

Can lay on nature is a paradise 

To what we fear of death. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .the end of life cancels all bands; 
—King Henry IV. (Pari i) , Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... kings and mightiest potentates must die. 
For that's the end of human misery. 

—Henry VI. (Part i). Act 3, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DEATH. 

.... he that dies this year is quit for the next. 
—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 3, 5c. 2. 

Death Hes on her Hke an untimely frost 
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field. 

— Romeo and JuUeU Act 4, Sc. 5. 

.... this fell sergeant, death. 
Is strict in his arrest 

—Hamlet, Act 5, 5c. 2. 

.... a man can die but once : we owe God a death : 
—King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 3, 5c. 2. 

Why, thou owest God a death. 
—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 5, 5c. 1. 

Thou antic death, 
—King Henry VI. (Part i). Act 4, Sc. 7. 

QUARRELS. 

Beware 

Of entrance to a quarrel ; but, being in, 

Bear't, that th' opposed may beware of thee. 

—Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 3. 

./^ 
/ And the best quarrels, in the heat, are cursed 

{ By those that feel their sharpness. 

— King Lear, Act 5, 5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

QUARRELS. 

.... when we debate 
Our trivial difference loud, we do commit 
Murder in healing wounds: 

— Anton]) and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

In a false quarrel there is no true valor. 
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

ADVICE. 
It is a good divine that follows his own instruc- 
tions : I can easier teach twenty what were good to be 
done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own 
teaching. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

.... my counsel is my shield ; 

—King Richard III., Act 4, Sc. 3. 

They that thrive well take counsel of their friends. 
— Venus and Adonis, \07th verse. 

Direct not him, whose way himself will choose: 

— King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

. . . .better a little chiding than a great deal of 
heart-break. 

— Merr^ Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

.... friendly counsel cuts off many foes. 
—King Henrx) VI. {Part i). Act 3, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PURSUIT. 

. . . .who riseth from a feast 
With that keen appetite that he sits down? 
Where is the horse that doth untread again 
His tedious measures with the unbated fire 
That he did pace them first? All things that are, 
Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 6. 

The sweets we wish for turn to loathed sours, 
Even in the moment that we call them ours. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, \24th verse. 

Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

. . . .too light winning 
Make the prize light. 

— The Tempest, Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

POSSESSION. 

. . . .they well deserve to have. 
That know the strong'st and surest way to get. 

—King Richard IL, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

The sweets we wish for turn to loathed sours. 
Even in the moment that we call them ours. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, \24th verse. 

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POSSESSION. 

. . . .have is have, however men do catch: 

— King John, Act ] , Sc. 1. 

Things won are done joy's soul hes in the doing: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

.... what we have we prize not to the worth 
Whiles we enjoy it; but being lack'd and lost. 
Why, then we rack the value, then we find 
The virtue that possession would not show us. 
Whiles it was ours. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

MARRIAGE. 

. . , .men are April when they woo, December 
when they wed : maids are May when they are maids, 
but the sky changes when they are wives. 

— As You Like It, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Wedding is great Juno's crown: 
O, blessed bond of board and bed! 

* Tis Hymen peoples every town ; 
High wedlock then be honored: 

Honor, high honor and renown. 

To Hymen, god in every town! 

— As You Like It, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MARRIAGE. 

Marriage is a matter of more worth 
Than to be dealt in by attorneyship ; 

—King Henry VI. {Part i) , Act 5, 5c. 5. 

. . . .wooing, wedding, and repenting, is as a Scotch 
jig, a measure, and a cinque-pace: the first suit is 
hot and hasty, hke a Scotch jig, and full as fantasti- 
cal; the wedding, mannerly, modest, as a measure, full 
of state and ancientry ; and then comes repentance, and, 
with his bad legs, falls into the cinque-pace faster and 
faster, till he sink into his grave. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

Hanging and wiving goes by destiny. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, 5c. 9. 

. . . .earthlier happy is the rose distill'd. 
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn. 
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

For what is wedlock forced but a hell. 
An age of discord and continual strife? 
Whereas the contrary bringeth bliss. 
And is a pattern of celestial peace. 

—King Henry VI. (Part i),Act 5, 5c. 5. 

.... hasty marriage seldom proveth well. 

—King Henry VI. (Part Hi), Act 4, Sc. 1. 

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MARRIAGE. 

A young man married is a man that's marr'd: 
—AlUs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 3, 

Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate. 

— Merr-^ Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

.... a soldier is better accommodated than with 
a wife. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 3, Sc. 2. 

MERIT. 

O, that estates, degrees and offices 
Were not derived corruptly, and that clear honor 
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer ! 
How many then should cover, that stand bare ! 
How many be commanded, that command! 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 9. 

Preferment goes by letter and affection. 
And not by old gradation, where each second 
Stood heir t' the first. 

—Othello, Act \,Sc. 1. 

SENTIMENTALITY. 

Some there be that shadows kiss; 
Such have but a shadow's bliss: 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 9. 

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HUSBAND. 

What nearer debt in all humanity 
Than wife is to the husband? 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, 

Whose weakness, married to thy stronger state. 

Makes me with thy strength to communicate: 

If aught possess thee from me, it is dross. 

Usurping ivy, brier, or idle moss; 

Who, all for want of pruning, with intrusion 

Infect thy sap, and live on thy confusion. 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy ; 
for he perforce must do thee right, because he hath 
not the gift to woo in other places: for these fel- 
lows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into 
ladies' favors, they do always reason themselves out 
again. What! a speaker is but a prater; a rhyme is 
but a ballad. A good leg will fall; a straight back 
will stoop ; a black beard will turn white ; a curled pate 
will grow bald; a fair face will wither; a full eye will 
wax hollow: but a good heart, Kate, is the sun, and 
moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon; for it 
shines bright and never changes, but keeps his course 
truly. 

— King Henr^ V., Act 5, Sc. 2. 

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HUSBAND. 

.... it is their husbands' faults. 
If wives do fall. 

—Othello, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Let husbands know 
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell 
And have their palates both for sweet and sour. 
As husbands have. 

—Othello, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

... .a light wife doth make a heavy husband, 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1 . 

Do not curst wives hold that self-sovereignty 
Only for praise' sake, when they strive to be 
Lords o'er their lords? 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. L 

' Tis a hard bondage to become the wife 
Of a detesting lord. 

-AlUs Well That Ends Well, Act 3, 5c. 5. 

WIFE. 

Do not curst wives hold that self-sovereignty 
Only for praise' sake, when they strive to be 
Lords o'er their lords? 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WIFE. 

A woman moved is like a fountain troubled. 

Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty; 

And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty 

Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it. 

Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, 

Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee. 

And for thy maintenance commits his body 

To painful labor both by sea and land. 

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold. 

Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe; 

And craves no other tribute at thy hands 

But love, fair looks and true obedience ; 

Too little payment for so great a debt. 

Such duty as the subject owes the prince 

Even such a woman oweth to her husband; 

And when she's froward, peevish, sullen, sour. 

And not obedient to his honest will, 

What is she but a foul contending rebel. 

And graceless traitor to her loving lord? 

I am ashamed that women are so simple 

To offer war where they should kneel for peace; 

Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway, 

When they are bound to serve, love, and obey. 

Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth. 

Unapt to toil and trouble in the world, 

But that our soft conditions and our hearts 

Should well agree with our external parts? 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WIFE. 

, . . .worthless peasants bargain for their wives. 
As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse. 

—King Henry VI. (Part i). Act 5, Sc. 5. 

.... it is their husbands' faults. 
If wives do fall: 

—Othello, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Let husbands know 
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell 
And have their palates both for sweet and sour. 
As husbands have. 

—Othello, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

.... a light wife doth make a heavy husband, 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

' Tis a hard bondage to become the wife 
Of a detesting lord. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 3, 5c. 5. 

Wives may be merry, and yet honest too: 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

What nearer debt in all humanity 
Than wife is to the husband? 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .war is no strife 
To the dark house, and the deserted wife. 

-AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, 5c. 3. 

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GOOD DEEDS. 

How far that little candle throws his beams ! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the right. 
—King Richard IL, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... good should be pertinent ; 

—Winter's Tale, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Good alone 
Is good, without a name. 
—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

1 Few love to hear the sins they love to act; 

— Pericles, Prince of T'^re, Act \, Sc. 1. 

PERSEVERANCE. 

What wax so frozen but dissolves with tempering. 
And yields at last to every light impression? 

— Venus and Adonis, 95th verse. 

.... perseverance, .... 
Keeps honor bright : to have done, is to hang 
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail 
In monumental mockery. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PERSEVERANCE. 

Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose 
That you resolved to effect. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

That what you cannot as you would achieve, 
You must, perforce, accomplish as you may. 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

But Hercules himself must yield to odds ; 
And many strokes, though with a little axe. 
Hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 1. 

.... the fire i' the flint 
Shows not till it be struck; 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

TREASON. 

.... treason is but trusted like the fox. 

Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd, and lock'd up. 

Will have a wild trick of his ancestors. 

—King Henr^ IV. {Part i). Act 5, 5c, 2. 

Poison and treason are the hands of sin. 
Ay, and the targets, to put off the shame: 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act ], Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LENDING. 
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be: 
For loan oft loses itself and friend. 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

—Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 3. 

Lend less than thou owest, 

— King Lear, Act \ , Sc. 4. 

BORROWING. 

Neither a borrower, nor a lender be : 
For loan oft loses both itself and friend. 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

— Hamlet, Act \, Sc. 3. 

VENGEANCE. 

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot 
That it do singe yourself: 

—King Henrv VIII., Act 1, 5c. 1. 

.... for pleasure and revenge 
Have ears more deaf than adders to the voice 
Of any true decision. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .the rarer action is 

In virtue, than in vengeance : 

— The Tempest, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOWLINESS. 
. . . . * tis better to be lowly bom. 
And range with humble livers in content. 
Than to be perk'd up in a glistering grief 

And wear a golden sorrow. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 2, Sc. 3. 

.... lowliness is young ambition's ladder, 
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; 
But when he once attains the upmost round. 
He then unto the ladder turns his back. 
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 

By which he did ascend. 

— Julius CcBsar, Act 2, Sc. I. 

Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade 

To shepherds looking on their silly sheep. 

Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy 

To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? 

O, yes it doth; a thousand fold it doth 

And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds. 

His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle. 

His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade. 

All which secure and sweetly he enjoys. 

Is far beyond a prince's delicates. 

His viands sparkling in a golden cup. 

His body couched in a curious bed. 

When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. 

—King Henry VI. (Part m). Act 2, 5c. 5. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LOWLINESS. 

. . . .most miserable 
Is the desire that's glorious: blessed be those. 
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills. 
Which seasons comfort. 

— Cymbeline, Act 1, Sc. 6. 

DISCONTENT. 

. . . .war is no strife 
To the dark house, and the detested wife. 

—Alls Well Thai Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . , .what's more miserable than discontent? 
—King Henr^ Vl. {Part ii). Act 3, Sc. 1. 

CONTENTMENT. 

Poor and content is rich, and rich enough; 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

. . . . * tis better to be lowly born. 
And range with humble livers in content. 
Than to be perk'd up in a glistering grief. 
And wear a golden sorrow. 

—King Henr^ VIII. , Act 2. Sc. 3. 

Our content 
Is our best having. 
—King Henry VIII., Act 2, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CLERGYMEN. 

Love and meekness, .... 
Become a churchman better than ambition: 

—King Henr^ VIIL, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

He, who the sword of heaven will bear 
Should be as holy as severe; 
Pattern in himself to know, 
Grace to stand, and virtue go; j 
More nor less to others paying 
Than by self offences weighing. 
Shame to him, whose cruel striking 
Kills for faults of his own liking! 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 2. 



TRAITORS. 

Thus may poor fools 
Believe false teachers: though those that are betray'd 
Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor 
Stands in worse case of woe. 

— C^mbeline, Act 3, 5c. 4. 

A subtle traitor needs no sophister. 
— King Henr\! VI. (Part ii) , Act 5, Sc. \. 

We must be brief when traitors brave the field. 

—King Richard III., Act 4, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LUST. 

Murder's as near to lust as flame to smoke. 

— Pericles^ Prince of Tyre, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

In night, .... desire sees best of all. 

— Venus and Adonis, \20lh verse. 

The cloyed will. 
That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub 
Both fill'd and running ravening first the lamb. 
Longs after for the garbage. 

— Cymbeline, Act], Sc. 7. 

The blood of youth burns not with such excess 
As gravity's revolt to wantonness. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

What rein can hold licentious wickedness 
When down the hill he holds his fierce career? 

— King Henry V., Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Lust is but a bloody fire. 

Kindled with unchaste desire. 

Fed in heart, whose flames aspire. 

As thoughts do blow them, higher and higher 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act5, Sc. 5. 

O rash, false heat, wrap'd in repentant cold. 
Thy hasty spring still blasts, and ne'er grows old ! 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 7th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LUST. 

O deeper sin, than bottomless conceit 
Can comprehend in still imagination! 
Drunken Desire must vomit his receipt. 
Ere he can see his own abomination. 
While Lust is in his pride, no exclamation 
Can curb his heat or rein his rash desire. 
Till, like a jade. Self-will himself doth tire. 
And then, with lank and lean discolor'd cheek. 
With heavy eye, knit brow, and strengthless pace. 
Feeble Desire, all recreant, poor and meek, 
Like to a bankrupt beggar wails his case: 
The flesh being proud. Desire doth fight with Grace, 
For there it revels, and when that decays. 
The guilty rebel for remission prays. 

— The Rape of Lucrece^ \0\st-\02nd verses. 

For light and lust are deadly enemies: I 

Shame folded up in blind concealing night. 
When most unseen, then most doth tyrannize. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 97th verse. 

But nothing can affection's course control. 
Or stop the headlong fury of his speed. ' 

I know repentant tears ensue the deed. 
Reproach, disdain, and deadly enmity; 
Yet strive I to embrace mine infamy. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 72nd verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LUST. 

Tears harden lust, though marble wears with raining. 
— The Rape of Lucrece, SOth verse. 

Let fair humanity abhor the deed 

That spots and stains love's modest snow-white weed. 
— The Rape of Lucrece, 2Sth verse. 

CHASTITY. 

More than our brother is our chastity. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

My chastity's the jewel of our house, 
Bequeathed down from ancestors ; 
Which were the greatest obloquy i' the world 
In me to lose. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4. Sc. 2. 

Touches so soft still conquer chastity. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 4th verse. 

But no perfection is so absolute, 
I That some impurity doth not pollute. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 22nd vejrsc^ 

/ 

CRITICISM. 

I Few love to hear the sins they love to act; 

' — Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act \,Sc. 1, 

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TIME. 

. . . .time's the king of men; 
He's both their parent, and he is their grave. 
And gives them what he will, not what they crave. 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Time is the nurse and breeder of all good. | 

— Ttvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .time is like a fashionable host 
That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand. 
And with his arms out-stretch'd, as he would fly, 
Grasps-in the comer. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

For beauty, wit. 

High birth, vigor of bone, desert in service. 
Love, friendship, charity, are subjects all 
To envious and calumniating time. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 

—Macbeth, Act \, Sc. 3. 

Time is a very bankrupt, and owes more than he's 

worth, to season. 
Nay, he's a thief too: have you not heard men say. 
That Time comes stealing on by night and day? 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TIME. 

Time's glory is to calm contending kings, 
To unmask falsehood and bring truth to light. 
To stamp the seal of time in aged things. 
To wake the morn and sentinel the night. 
To wrong the wronger till he render right. 
To ruinate proud buildings with thy hours 
And smear with dust their glittering golden towers ; 

To fill with worm-holes stately monuments. 
To feed oblivion with decay of things. 
To blot old books and alter their contents. 
To pluck the quills from ancient ravens' wings. 
To dry the old oak's sap, and cherish springs. 
To spoil antiquities of hammer'd steel 
And turn the giddy round of Fortune's wheel; 

To show the beldam daughters of her daughter. 
To make the child a man, the man a child. 
To slay the tiger that doth live by slaughter. 
To tame the unicorn and lion wild. 
To mock the subtle in themselves beguiled. 

To cheer the ploughman with increaseful crops. 
And waste huge stones with little water-drops. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 135-136-137 verses. 

O Time, thou tutor both to good and bad, 

— The Rape of Lucrece, \43rd verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TIME. 

For never-resting time leads summer on 
To hideous winter, and confounds him there, 

— Sonnets, V. 

O God! that one might read the book of fate. 

And see the revolution of the times 

Make mountains level, and the continent. 

Weary of solid firmness, melt itself 

Into the sea! and, other times, to see 

The beachy girdle of the ocean 

Too wide for Neptune's hips ; how chances mock. 

And changes fill the cup of alteration 

With divers liquors! O, if this were seen. 

The happiest youth, viewing his progress through. 

What perils past, what crosses to ensue. 

Would shut the book, and sit him down and die. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii) ,Act3, Sc. 1 . 

Let's take the instant by the forward top; 
For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees 
Th' inaudible and noiseless foot of Time 
Steals ere we can effect them. 

—ATs Well That Ends Well Act 5, 5c. 3. 

. . . .time 
Goes upright with his carriage. 

— The Tempest, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

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TIME. 

Past, and to come, seem best; things present, worst. 
—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 1, Sc. 3. 

We are time's subjects, 
—King Henry IV. (Part ii). Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth 
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow. 
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, 
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: 

— Sonnets LX. 

.... rocks impregnable are not so stout. 
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays? 

Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back ? 
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid? 

— Sonnets LXV. 

I Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear, 

1 Thy dial how thy precious minutes waste; 

^ —Sonnets LXXVII. 

Time, whose million'd accidents 
Creep in ' twixt vows, ,and change decrees of kings. 
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents. 
Divert strong minds to the course of altering things; 

— Sonnets CXV. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TIME. 

Thou by thy dial's shady stealth may'st know 
Time's thievish progress to eternity. 

—Sonnets LXXVII. 

Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back 
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, 
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes: 
Those scraps cire good deeds past, which are 

devoured 
As fast as they are made, forgot as soon 
As done: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Time is the old justice that examines all such 
offenders, 

— As You Like It, Act 4, 5c. 1. 

.... thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool ; 
And time, that takes survey of all the world, 
Must have a stop. 

— King Henry IV., Act 5, 5c. 4, 

TTie extreme parts of time extremely forms 
All causes to the purpose of his speed; 
And often, at his very loose, decides 
That which long process could not arbitrate : 

— Love's Labour s Lost, Act 5, 5c. 2. 

Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides: 

— King Lear, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TIME. 

A man is master of his liberty: 
Time is their master; 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Every time 
Serves for the matter that is then born in 't. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

DEEDS. 
* Tis deeds, must win the prize ; 

— Taming of the Shreti}, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Let deeds express 
What's Hke to be their words: 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Words pay no debts, give deeds: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Talkers are no good doers: 

—King Richard III., Act 1 , Sc. 3. 

Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

PEOPLE. 

.... the people 
Must have their voices ; 

— Coriolanus, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

ANARCHY. 

. . . .when two authorities are up. 
Neither supreme, how soon confusion 
May enter ' twixt the gap of both and take 
The one by the other. 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
Can wash the balm from an anointed king; 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 
The deputy elected by the Lord: 

—King Richard II., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

WORDS. 

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue: 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

Let deeds express 
What's like to be their words: 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt 
With modest warrant. 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, 5c. L 

. . . .words do well, 
When he that speaks them pleases those that hear. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, 5c. 5. 

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WORDS. 

But words are words ; I never yet did hear 
That the bruised heart was pierced through the ear. 

—Othello, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Words pay no debts, give deeds: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. 

— Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. I. 

Talkers are no good doers: 

—King Richard III., Act 1 , 5c. 3. 

Discourse is heavy, fasting; 

— C^mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 6. 

... .be check'd for silence. 
But never tax*d for speech. 
—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 1 , Sc. 1 . 

.... many a man's tongue shakes out his master's 
undoing : 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

RESPECT. 

As jewels lose their glory if neglected. 
So princes their renowns, if not respected. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

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WAR. 

. . . .the toil of the war, 
A pain that only seems to seek out danger 
r the name of fame, and honor, which dies i' the search. 
And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph 
As record of fair act; nay, many times. 
Doth ill deserve by doing well; what's worse. 
Must court'sy at the censure: 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man 
As modest stillness and humility: 
But when the blast of war blows in our ears. 
Then imitate the action of the tiger; 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. 
Disguise fair nature with hard-favor' d rage; 
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; 
Let it pry through the portage of the head 
Like the brass cannon ; let the brow o'erwhelm it 
As fearfully as doth a galled rock 
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, 
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. 

—King Henry F., Act 3, 5c. 1 . 

The peace of heaven is theirs that lift their swords 
In a just and charitable war. 

— King John, Act 2, Sc. 1« 

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WAR. 

The end of war's uncertain, 

— Coriolanus, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

.... now doth Death line his dead chaps with steel ; 
The swords of soldiers are his teeth, his fangs; 
And now he feasts, mousing the flesh of men. 
In undetermined differences of kings. 

— King John, Act 2, Sc. I. 

Thrice is he arm'd, that hath his quarrel just; 
And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel. 
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part ii). Act 3, Sc 2. 

O war, thou son of hell, 
Whom angry heavens do make their minister, 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part ii). Act 5, Sc. 2. 

. . . .big wars. 
That make ambition virtue! 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

What valor were it, when a cur doth grin. 
For one to thrust his liand between his teeth. 
When he might spurn him with his foot away? 
It is war's prize to take all vantages; 
And ten to one is no impeach of valor. 

— King Henry VI. (Part Hi), Act ], Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PEACE. 

The grappling vigor, and rough frown of war 
Is cold in amity and painted peace, 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man 

As modest stillness and humility : 

But when the blast of war blows in our ears. 

Then imitate the action of the tiger; 

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. 

Disguise fair nature with hard-favor'd rage; 

Then lend the eye a terrible aspect ; 

Let it pry through the portage of the head 

Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it 

As fearfully as doth a galled rock 

O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, 

Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. 

—King Henry V., Act 3, Sc. I. 

A peace is of the nature of a conquest; 
For then both parties nobly are subdued. 
And neither party loser. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

155 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SIMPLICITY. 

. . . .never any thing can be amiss. 
When simpleness and duty tender it. 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits. 

— Ttvo Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1 , 5c. 1 . 

. . . .sometimes nature will betray its folly. 
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime 
To harder bosoms ! 

— Winter s Tale, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

BEAUTY. 

. . . .those that fortune makes fair she scarce 
makes honest; and those that she makes honest, she 
makes very ill-favoredly. 

—As You Like It, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

Beauty doth varnish age, as if new-born. 

And gives the crutch the cradle's infancy : 
O, ' tis the sun, that maketh all things shine. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

The beauty that is borne here in the face 
The bearer knows not, but commends itself 
To others' eyes; 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

156 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BEAUTY. 

. . . .what is comely 
Envenoms him that bears it! 

—As You Like lu Act 2. Sc. 3. 

Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold. 

—As You Like It, Act], Sc. 3. 

... .to some kind of men 
Their graces serve them but as enemies? 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .honesty coupled to beauty is to have honey 
a sauce to sugar. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... nature with a beauteous wall 
Doth oft close in pollution, 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

. . . .the beauteous evil 
Are empty trunks, o'erflourish'd by the devil. 

—Txpelnh Night, Act 3. 5c. 4. 

Virtue is beauty ; 

—Twelfth Night, Act 3, 5c. 4. 

Where fair is not, praise cannot mend the brow. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Devils soonest tempt, resembling spirits of light. 

— Love's Labour* s Lost, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

157 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BEAUTY. 

.... beauty's crest becomes the heavens well. 

— Loves Labour's Lost, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye, 
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues: 

— Loves Labour's Lost, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

.... for beauty is a witch. 
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. 
—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Since the more fair and crystal is the sky. 
The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly. 

—King Richard II., Act\,Sc.\. 

... .is the jay more precious than the lark, 
Because his feathers are more beautiful? 
Or is the adder better than the eel. 
Because his painted skin contents the eye? 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

. . . .beauty's princely majesty is such. 
Confounds the tongue, and mocks the sense of rough. 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part i). Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud; 
—King Hem]) VI. {Part Hi), Act ], Sc. 4. 

All orators are dumb when beauty pleadeth ; 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 39th verse, 

158 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BEAUTY. 

Beauty itself^^bth_jaf-^4tself persuade 
The eyes of men without an orator; 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 5 th verse. 

But beauty's waste hath in the world an end. 
And kept unused, the user so destroys it. 

— Sonnets IX. 

Beauty needs no pencil, beauty's truth to lay; 

— Sonnets CI. 

O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem. 

By that sweet ornament which truth doth give! 

The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem I 

For that sweet odor which doth in it live. I 

The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye 

As the perfumed tincture of the roses. 

Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly 

When summer's breath their masked buds discloses : 

But, for their virtue only is their show, 

They live unwoo'd and unrespected fade; 

Die to themselves. 

— Sonnets LIV. 

. . . .the power of beauty will sooner transform 
honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of 
honesty can transmute beauty into his likeness: 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

159 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

BEAUTY. 

O beauty! where is thy faith? 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good, 

A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly; 

A flower that dies when first it ' gins to bud ; 

A brittle glass, that's broken presently: 
A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower. 
Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour. 

And as goods lost are seld or never found, 
As vaded gloss no rubbing will refresh. 
As flowers dead lie wither'd on the ground. 
As broken glass no cement can redress. 
So beauty blemish'd once 's for ever lost. 
In spite of physic, painting, pain and cost. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, \3>th verse. 

Look on beauty. 
And you shall see ' tis purchased by the weight; 
Which therein works a miracle in nature. 
Making them lightest that wear most of it: 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

EXPERIENCE. 
I had rather have a fool to make me merry than 
experience to make me sad; 

— As You Like It, Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

EXPERIENCE. 

The bird that hath been Hmed in a bush. 
With trembhng wings misdoubteth every bush; 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part in). Act 5. 5c. 6. 

Experience is by industry achieved. 

And perfected by the swift course of time. 

— Two Centlemen of Verona, Act \, Sc. 3. 

Experience, O, thou disprovest report! 

— C\jmte/ine, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

DOUBT. 

. . . .modest doubt is call'd 
The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches 
To the bottom of the worst. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Our doubts are traitors. 
And make us lose the good we oft might win 
By fearing to attempt. 

— Measure for Measure, Act \, Sc. 4. 

Since doubting things go ill often hurts more 

Than to be sure they do ; for certainties 

Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing. 

The remedy then born 

— C^mbeline, Act ], Sc. 6. 

. . . .urge doubts to them that fear. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

161 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HOLLOWNESS. 

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith: 
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand. 
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle; 
But when they should endure the bloody spur. 
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades. 
Sink in the trial. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

^^^^ PRIDE. 

He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his 
own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and 
whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed 
in the praise. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

' Tis pride that pulls the country down ; 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .pride hath no other glass 
To show itself but pride, for supple knees 
Feed arrogance and are the proud man's fees. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

All pride is willing pride, 
— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 2, Sc, 1. 

I Small things make base men proud : 

1 — King Hem]) VL {Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 1. 

162 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIQUOR. 

A good sherris-sack hath a two-fold operation in 
it. It ascends me into the brain; dries me there all the 
foolish and dull and crudy vapours which environ it; 
makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, 
fiery and delectable shapes; which, delivered o'er to 
the voice, the tongue, which is the birth, becomes excel- 
lent wit. The second property of your excellent sherris 
is, the warming of the blood; which, before cold and 
settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge 
of pusillanimity and cowardice; but the sherris warms 
it and makes it course from the inwards to the parts 
extreme : it illumineth the face, which as a beacon gives 
warning to all the rest of this little kingdom, man, to 
arm; and then the vital commoners and inland petty 
spirits muster me all to their captain, the heart, who, 
great and puffed up with this retinue, doth any deed of 
courage; and this valour comes of sherris. So that 
skill in the weapon is nothing without sack, for that 
sets it a-work; and learning a mere hoard of gold kept 
by a devil, till sack commences it and sets it in act and 
use.... If I had a thousand sons, the first humane 
principle I would teach them should be, to forswear 
thin potations and to addict themselves to sack. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 3/ 



163 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIQUOR. 

For a quart of ale is a dish for a king. 

—Winter's Tale, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

.... good wine needs no bush, 

— As You Like It, Epilogue. 

O thou invisible spirit of wine if thou hast no 
name to be known by, let us call thee devil ! 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .good wine is a good familiar creature, if 
it be well used : 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 



INTEMPERANCE. 

To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and 
presently a beast! O strange! — Every inordinate cup 
is unblest, and the ingredient is a devil. 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

O God! that men should put an enemy in their 
mouths to steal away their brains! that we should 
with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, transform our- 
selves into beasts! 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

164 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TEMPERANCE. 

.... nor a man cannot make him laugh ; but that's 
no marvel, he drinks no wine. There's never none of 
these demure boys come to any proof; 

—King Henr^ IV. (Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 3. 

DRUNKARD. 

What's a drunken man like? 

Like a drowned man, a fool, and a madman : one 
draught above heat makes him a fool, the second mads 
him, and a third drowns him. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 

One drunkard loves another of the name. 

— Lovers Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

INOPPORTUNENESS. 

The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark. 
When neither is attended; and I think 
The nightingale, if she could sing by day. 
When every goose is cackling, would be thought 
No better a musician than the wren. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

SCOFFING. 
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer. 

—As You Like It, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

165 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SOLDIERS. 

Soldiers should brook as little wrongs as gods. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

And may that soldier a mere recreant prove, 
That means not, hath not, or is not in love ! 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

.... soldiers' stomachs always serve them well. 

—King Hem]) VI . (Part i) , Act 2, Sc. 3. 

... .a soldier is better accommodated than with 

a wife. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 3, Sc. 2. 

POETRY. 

. . . .poesy is as a gum, which oozes 
From whence ' tis nourish'd : the fire i' the flint 
Shows not, till it be struck; our gentle flame 
Provokes itself, and, like the current, flies 
Each bound it chafes. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

. . . .Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews, 
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones, 
Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans 
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

166 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

POETRY. 

Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling 
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ; 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .mincing poetry: 
' Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag, 

—King Henr^ IV. {Pari i),Act 3, Sc. 1. 

CEREMONY. 

O ceremony, show me but thy worth! 

What is thy soul of adoration? 

Art thou aught else but place, degree and form 

Creating awe and fear in other men 

Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd 

Than they in fearing. 

What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet. 

But poison'd flattery? 

— King Henr^ V., Act 4, Sc. 1. 

.... the sauce to meat is ceremony ; 
Meeting were bare without it. 

—Macbeth, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

O ceremony, show me but thy worth! 

— King Henry F., Act 4, Sc. 1. 

167 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CEREMONY. 

When love begins to sicken and decay. 

It useth an enforced ceremony. 

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith ; 

— Julius CcBsar, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

. . . .the appurtenance of welcome is fashion and 

ceremony : 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

PROMISES. 

Promising is the very air o* the time : it opens the 
eyes of expectation: performance is ever the duller for 
his act; and, but in the plainer and simpler kind of 
people, the deed of saying is quite out of use. To 
promise is most courtly and fashionable: performance 
is a kind of will or testament, which argues a great 
sickness in his judgment that makes it. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 5, Sc. I. 

NIGHT. 

Deep night, dark night, and silent of the night, 
The time of night when Troy was set on fire; 
The time when screech-owls cry, and ban-dogs howl. 
And spirits walk, and ghosts break up their graves, 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part n). Act 1, Sc. 4. 

168 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

VICTORY. 

A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings 
home full numbers. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

All's well that ends well: still the fine's the crown; 
Whate'er the course, the end is the renown. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

The harder match'd, the greater victory: 

— King Henr^ VI. (Part Hi), Act 5, Sc. 1. 

VALUE. 

What's aught, but as ' tis valued? 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... value dwells not in particular will ; 
It holds his estimate and dignity 
As well wherein ' tis precious of itself 
As in the prizer: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... what things there are. 
Most abject in regard and dear in use! 
What things again most dear in the esteem 
And poor in worth. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

169 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

EXPECTATION. 

. . . .expectation whirls me round. 
The imaginary reHsh is so sweet 
, That it enchants my sense: 
( — Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Oft expectation fails, and most oft there 
Where most it promises ; and oft it hits 
Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits. 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

ERROR. 

What error leads must err; 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

O hateful error, melancholy's child, 

Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men 

The things that are not? 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

O error, soon conceived. 
Thou never comest unto a happy birth, 
But kill'st the mother that engendered thee! 

— Julius CcBsar, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

The better act of purposes mistook 
Is to mistake again; 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. \. 

170 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DREAMS. 

.... dreams 
Which are the children of an idle brain. 
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy. 
Which is as thin of substance as the air. 
And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes 
Even nov/ the frozen bosom of the north. 
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence. 
Turning his face to the dew-dropping south. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act \, Sc. 4. 

A dream itself is but a shadow. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

HAPPINESS. 

. . . .what fool is not so wise 
To break an oath, to win a paradise? 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 3rd verse. 

PUNISHMENT. 

And where the offence is let the great axe fall. 

—Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 5, 

... .in time the rod 
Becomes more mock'd, than fear'd; 

— Measure for Measure, Act ], Sc. 3. 

171 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TEMPTATION. 

When devils will the blackest sins put on. 
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows, 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

' Tis one thing to be tempted. 
Another thing to fall. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

.... do not give dalliance 
Too much the rein: the strongest oaths are straw 
To the fire i' the blood : Be more abstemious 
Or else, good night, your vow! 

— The Tempest, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds 
Make ill deeds done! 

— King John, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

.... it is meet 
That noble minds keep ever with their likes; 
For who so firm that cannot be seduced? 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 1, 5c. 2. 

PATRIOTISM. 

Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's. 
Thy God's, and truth's; then, if thou fall'st. 
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr! 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

172 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CONSTANCY. 

. . . .were man 
But constant, he were perfect! That one error 
Fills him with faults; 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

POWER. 

... .it is excellent 
To have a giant's strength; but tyrannous 
To use it like a giant. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Though little fire grows great with little wind. 
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all : 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

But happy monarchs still are fear'd for love : 

— The Rape of Lucrece, QSth verse. 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

—King Henry) IV. (Part ii). Act 3, Sc. 1. 

The eagle suffers little birds to sing, 
And is not careful what they mean thereby; 
Knowing that with the shadow of his wing, 
He can at pleasure stint their melody: 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 4, Sc. 

173 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HOPE. 

The miserable have no other medicine. 
But only hope : 

— Measure for Measure, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings ; 
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. 

—Richard III., Act 5, 5c. 2. 

Hope is a curtal dog in some affairs; 

— Merr]) Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Against ill chances men are ever merry; 
But heaviness foreruns the good event. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii) , Act 4, Sc. 2. 

HUNGER. 

Who wanteth food, and will not say he wants it. 
Or can conceal his hunger till he famish? 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act], Sc. 4. 

So sharp are hunger's teeth, that man and wife 
Draw lots, who first shall die to lengthen life : 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act \, Sc. 4. 

RELENTLESSNESS. 

Not to relent, is beastly, savage, devilish. 

—King Richard III., Act], Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WORLD. 

All the world's a stage. 
And all the men and women merely players : 
They have their exits and their entrances; 
And one man in his time plays many parts, 
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant. 
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. 
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel 
And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover. 
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier. 
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard. 
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel. 
Seeking the bubble reputation 

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice. 
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd. 
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut. 
Full of wise saws and modern instances; 
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts 
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon. 
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side. 
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide 
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice. 
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes 
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all. 
That ends this strange eventful history, 
Is second childishness and mere oblivion, 
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 

—As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

175 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WORLD. 

.... the world is grown so bad, 
That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch : 
—King Richard III., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

You have too much respect upon the world : 
They lose it that do buy it with much care : 

— Merchant of Venice, Act ], Sc. 1. 

I hold the world but as the world, 

A stage, where every man must play a part, 

— Merchant of Venice, Act \, Sc. 1. 

A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. 
— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

J 
LABOR. 

.... there's no better sign of a brave mind than a 
hard hand. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part ii) , Act 4, Sc. 2. 

The labor we delight in physics pain. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

TIPPING. 

These wise men that give fools money get them- 
selves a good report. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LIBERTY. 

A man is master of his liberty : 
Time is their master; 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 2, 5c. 1 . 

. . . .head-strong Hberty is lash'd with woe. 

— Corned]) of Errors, Act2,Sc. 1 . 

SLAVERY. 
To be a queen in bondage is more vile 
Than is a slave in base servility; 
—King Henry VI. (Part i). Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud ; 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

INSTINCT. 

By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust 
Pursuing dangers ; as, by proof, we see 
The waters swell before a boisterous storm. 

—King Richard HI., Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Instinct is a great matter; 
—King Henry IV. {Part i). Act 2, Sc. 4. 

CURSES. 

. . . .curses never pass 
The lips of those that breathe them in the air. 

—King Richard III., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

HUMILITY. 

. . . .some kinds of baseness 

Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters 

Point to rich ends. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

GENEROSITY. 

To be generous, guiltless and of free disposition, 
is to take those things for bird-bolts that you deem 
cannon-bullets. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 

DELAY. 

Be not ta'en tardy by unwise delay. 

—King Richard III., Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends 
' —King Henry VI. {Part i) , Act 3, Sc. 2. 

In delay there lies no plenty ; 

—Twelith Night, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

SELFISHNESS. 

Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse; 
Seeds spring from seeds and beauty breedeth beauty; 
Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty. 

— Venus and Adonis, 2Sth verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SELFISHNESS. 

That sir, which serves and seeks for gain, 

And follows but for form, 
Will pack when it begins to rain. 

And leave thee in the storm. / 

—King Lear, Act 2, Sc/a. 

DISGUISE. 
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness. 
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

OPPORTUNITY. 

But when the fox hath once got in his nose. 
He'll soon find means to make the body follow. 

—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 4, Sc. 7. 

. . . .the fittest time to corrupt a man's wife is 
when she's fallen out with her husband. 

— Coriolanus, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

The means that heaven yields must be embraced. 
And not neglected; else, if heaven would. 
And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse, 
The proffer*d means of succour and redress. I 

^ —King Richard II., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

179 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

OPPORTUNITY. 

O, Opportunity, thy guilt is great! 

' Tis thou that executest the traitor's treason ; 

Thou set'st the wolf where he the lamb may get; 

Whoever plots the sin, thou point'st the season; 

' Tis thou that spurn' st at right, at law, at reason ; 
And in thy shady cell, where none may spy him. 
Sits Sin, to seize the souls that wander by him. 

Thou makest the vestal violate her oath; 

Thou blow'st the fire when temperance is thaw'd; 

Thou smother'st honesty, thou murder'st troth; 

Thou foul abettor! thou notorious bawd! 

Thou plantest scandal and displacest laud: 
Thou ravisher, thou traitor, thou false thief. 
Thy honey turns to gall, thy joy to grief! 

Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame. 

Thy private feasting to a public fast ; 

Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name. 

Thy sugar' d tongue to bitter wormwood taste : 

Thy violent vanities can never last. 
How comes it then, vile Opportunity, 
Being so bad, such numbers seek for thee? 

When wilt thou be the humble suppliant's friend. 
And bring him where his suit may be obtained? 
When wilt thou sort an hour great strifes to end 
Or free that soul which wretchedness hath chained? 

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OPPORTUNITY. 

Give physic to the sick, ease to the pained? 

The poor, lame. Wind, halt, creep, cry out for thee ; 
But they ne'er meet with Opportunity. 



The patient dies while the physician sleeps; 

The orphan pines while the oppressor feeds ; 

Justice is feasting while the widow weeps; 

Advice is sporting while infection breeds: 

Thou grant'st no time for charitable deeds: 

Wrath, envy, treason, rape, and murder's rages. 
Thy heinous hours wait on them as their pages. 

When Truth and Virtue have to do with thee, 
A thousand crosses keep them from thy aid: 
They buy thy help, but Sin ne'er gives a fee; 
He gratis comes, and thou art well appaid. 
As well to hear, as grant what he hath said. 



Guilty thou art of murder and of theft. 

Guilty of perjury and subordination. 

Guilty of treason, forgery, and shift. 

Guilty of incest, that abomination; 

An accessory by thine inclination 

To all sins past, and all that are to come. 

From the creation to the general doom. 

—The Rape of Lucrece, 126, 127, 128, 129. 130. 

131, 1 32, verses. 

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OPPORTUNITY. 

Make use of time, let no advantage slip; 

— Venus and Adonis, 22nd verse. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallow^s and in miseries. 

— Julius Ccssar, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

Beauty w^ithin itself should not be wasted: 

Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their prime 
Rot and consume themselves in little time. 

— Venus and Adonis, 22nd verse. 

Torches are made to light, jewels to wear, 
Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use. 
Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear; 

— Venus and Adonis, 2Sth verse. 

Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed. 
Unless the earth in thy increase be fed? 
By law of nature thou art bound to breed. 
That thine may live, when thou thyself art dead; 
And so, in spite of death, thou dost survive. 
In that thy likeness still is left alive. 

— Venus and Adonis, 29th verse. 

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PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

From fairest creatures we desire increase. 
That thereby beauty's rose might never die, 
But as the riper should by time decease. 
His tender heir might bear his memory: 

— Sonnets I. 

But flowers distill'd, though they with winter meet, 
Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet. 

— Sonnets V. 

Make thee another self, for love of me. 
That beauty still mav live in thine or thee. 

— Sonnets X. 

As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st 
In one of thine, from that which thou departest; 
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow' st 
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth con- 

vertest. 
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase; 
Without this, folly, age and cold decay: 
If all were minded so the times would cease 
And threescore year would make the world away. 

— Sonnets XI. 

When forty winters shall besiege thy brow 
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field. 
Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, 

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PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held: 
Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies. 
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days. 
To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes. 
Were an ill-eating shame and thriftless praise. 
How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use. 
If thou couldst answer " This fair child of mine 
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse," 
Proving his beauty by succession thine! 

This were to be new made when thou art old. 
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold. 

— Sonnets II. 

Lo, in the orient when the gracious light 
Lifts up his burning head, each under eye 
Doth homage to his new-appearing sight, 
Serving with looks his sacred majesty; 
And having climb'd the steep-up heavenly hill. 
Resembling strong youth in his middle age. 
Yet mortal looks adore his beauty still. 
Attending on his golden pilgrimage; 
But when from high-most pitch with weary car. 
Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day. 
The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are 
From his low tract, and look another way: 

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PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

So thou, thyself out-going in thy noon, 
Unlook'd on diest, unless thou get a son. 

— Sonnets VII. 

Then let not winter's ragged hand deface 
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd: 
Make sweet some vial ; treasure thou some place 
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd. 
That use is not forbidden usury. 
Which happies those that pay the willing loan; 
That 's for thyself to breed another thee. 
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one; 
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art. 
If ten of thine ten times refigur'd thee. 
Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart. 
Leaving thee living in posterity? 

Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair 

To be death's conquest and make worms thine 

heir. 

— Sonnets VI. 

. . . .who is he so fond will be the tomb 

Of his self-love, to stop posterity? 

Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee 

Calls back the lovely April of her prime: 

So thou through windows of thine age shalt see. 

Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time. 

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PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

But if thou live, remember'd not to be. 
Die single, and thine image dies with thee. 

— Sonnets III. 

Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend 
Upon thyself thy beauty's legacy? 
Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend. 
And being frank, she lends to those are free. 
Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse 
The bounteous largess given thee to give? 
Profitless usurer, why dost thou use 
So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live? 
For, having traffic with thyself alone. 
Thou of thyself thy sweet self dost deceive. 
Then how, when nature calls thee to be gone, 
What acceptable audit canst thou leave? 

Thy unused beauty must be tomb'd with thee. 
Which, used, lives th' executor to be. 

— Sonnets IV, 

Against this coming end you should prepare. 

And your sweet semblance to some other give. 

So should that beauty which you hold in lease 

Find no determination ; then you were 

Yourself again, after yourself's decease. 

When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear. 

Who lets so fair a house fall to decay, 

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PROPAGATION OF HUMAN RACE. 

Which husbandry in honor might uphold 
Against the stormy gusts of winter's day 
And barren rage of death's eternal cold? 
O, none but unthrifts : dear my love, you know 
You had a father; let your son say so. 

— Sonnets XIII. 

LOSS. 

I can give the loser leave to chide. 
—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

How mightily sometimes we make us comforts 
of our losses. 

—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Praising what is lost 
Makes the remembrance dear. 
—Alls Well That Ends Well, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

It would make any man cold to lose. 

— C})mbelme, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Some falls are means the happier to arise. 

— C})mheline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

He, that is strucken blind, cannot forget 
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

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WINNING. 

... .they laugh that win. 

—Othello, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Winning will put any man into courage. 

— C^mbeline, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Near or far off, well won is still well shot, 

— King John, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

.... nothing can seem foul to those that win. 

—King Henrv IV - {Part i). Act 5, Sc. 1. 

AMBITION. 

.... the very substance of the ambitious is merely 
the shadow of a dream. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .ambition of so airy and light a quality that 
it is but a shadow's shadow. 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... fling away ambition : \ 

I By that sin fell the angels; how can man then, 1 
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it? 1 
—King Henry VHL, Act 3. Sc. 2. 

Striving to better, oft we mar what's well, 

— King Lear, Act \, Sc. 4. 

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AMBITION. 

The hind that would be mated by the lion 
Must die for love. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

There be some sports are painful, and their labor 
Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness 
Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters 
Point to rich ends. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

When workmen strive to do better than well. 
They do confound their skill in covetousness ; 

— King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

. . . .lowliness is young ambition's ladder. 
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face; 
But when he once attains the upmost round. 
He then unto the ladder turns his back, 
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend : 

— Julius Ccssar, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . . ' tis but a base ignoble mind 
That mounts no higher than a bird can soar. 

—King Henr^ VI. {Part ii). Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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AMBITION. 

.... man and birds are fain of climbing high. 
—King Henry VL {Part n), Act 2, Sc. 1. 

.... few men rightly temper with the stars : 

—King Henry VL {Part Hi), Act 4, Sc. 6. 

Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts. 

—King Henry VL (Part ii) , Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself 
And falls on the other. 
\ —Macbeth, Act 1 , 5c. 7. 

MIRROR. 
.... it is not vainglory for a man and his glass to 

confer 

— Cymbeline, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

COURTESY. 
Dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant 
Can tickle where she wounds! 

— Cymbeline, Act \, Sc. 1. 

SUN. 
All places that the eye of heaven visits 
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens. 

—King Richard IL, Act 1 . Sc. 3. 

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SOCIETY. 

Therefore doth heaven divide 
The state of man in divers functions. 
Setting endeavor in continual motion; 
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt. 
Obedience: for so work the honey bees. 
Creatures that by a rule in nature teach 
The act of order to a peopled kingdom. 
They have a king and officers of sorts; 
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home. 
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad. 
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings. 
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds. 
Which pillage they with merry march bring home 
To the tent-royal of their emperor; 
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 
The singing masons building roofs of gold. 
The civil citizens kneading up the honey. 
The poor mechanic porters crowding in 
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate. 
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum. 
Delivering o'er to executors pale 
The lazy yawning drone. 

— King Henry V.,Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

... .society. . . .is the happiness of life. 

— Love's Labour's LosU Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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SOCIETY. 

. . . .society is no comfort 
To one not sociable: 

— C}^mbelme, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

EYES. 

. . . .our very eyes 
Are sometimes like our judgments, blind. 

— C^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye 
Than twenty of their swords: 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

What a haste looks through his eyes ! So should he look 
That seems to speak things strange. 

—Macbeth, Act ], Sc. 2. 

Your eyes are lode-stars; 
— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act \ , Sc. 1 . 

Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art. 
They draw but what they see, know not the heart. 

—Sonnets XXIV. 

RUINS. 

The ruin speaks that sometime 
It was a worthy building. 

— C^^mbeline, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

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REPUTATION. 

The purest treasure mortal times afford 

Is spotless reputation: that away. 

Men are but gilded loam or painted clay. 

—King Richard II., Act 1 , Sc. 1 

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; 
oft got without merit, and lost without deserving: 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Good name, in man, and woman, dear my lord, 

Is the immediate jewel of their souls: 

Who steals my purse, steals trash; ' tis something, 

nothing 
' Twas mine, ' tis his, and has been slave to thousands ; 
But he, that filches from me my good name, 
Robs me of that, which not enriches him. 
And makes me poor indeed. 

—Othello, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

CONSCIENCE. 

.... conscience does make cowards of us all, 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

My conscience hath a thousand several tongues. 
And every tongue brings in a several tale, \ 

And every tale condemns me for a villain. ■ 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 3, 

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CONSCIENCE. 

Every man's conscience is a thousand swords 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 2. 

I O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 3. 

.... conscience is but a word that cowards use. 
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe : 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 3. 

. . . .conscience is a dangerous thing: it makes a 
man a coward : a man cannot steal, but it accuseth him ; 
he cannot swear, but it checks him; he cannot lie with 
his neighbor's wife, but it detects him: it is a blushing 
shame-fast spirit that mutinies in a man's bosom; it 
fills a man full of obstacles: it made me once restore 
a purse of gold, that I found; it beggars any man that 
keeps it: it is turned out of all towns and cities for a 
dangerous thing; and every man that means to live 
well endeavors to trust to himself and live without it. 
—King Richard III., Act 1, Sc. 4. 

, . . .great guilt, 
Like poison given to work a great time after. 
Now ' gins to bite the spirits. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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CONSCIENCE. 

Love is too young to know what conscience is; 
Yet who knows not, conscience is born of love? 

— Sonnets CLI. 

SPORT. 

That sport best pleases that doth least know how : 

— Loves Labour^ Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

There's no such sport as sport by sport o'erthrown; 
— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

FATNESS. 

Fat paunches have lean pates; and dainty bits 
Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act \, Sc. 1. 

WIDOWS. 

. . . .God, the widow's champion and defence. 

—King Richard IL,Act\, Sc. 2. 

TRAVELLERS. 

. . . .travellers ne'er did lie. 
Though fools at home condemn 'em. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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NATURE. 

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin; 

Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp. 
To guard a title that was rich before. 
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. 
To throw a perfume on the violet, 
To smooth the ice, or add another hue 
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light 
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish. 
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

— King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature 1 

— C^mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

USURPATION. 

A sceptre snatch' d with an unruly hand 
Must be as boisterously maintain'd as gain'd ; 
And he that stands upon a slippery place 
Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up: 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

. . . .though usurpers sway the rule awhile. 
Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. 

—King Henr^ VI. {Part Hi), Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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RELIGION. 
It is religion that doth make vows kept; 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .sweet religion makes 
A rhapsody of words: 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

In religion. 
What damned error, but some sober brow 
Will bless it, and approve it with a text. 
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

ARBITRATION. 
Good words are better than bad strokes, 

— Julius CcEsar, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

MELANCHOLIA. 

. . . .humor, 
Which sometime hath his hour with every man. 

— Julius Cesser, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

SPRING. 
.... proud-pied April, dress'd in all his trim, 
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing. 
That heavy Saturn laugh'd and leap'd with him. 

—Sonnets XCVIII. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MOTIVES. 

Good reasons must of force, give place to better. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

There is occasions and causes why and wherefore 
in all things : 

—King Henry V., Actb, Sc. \. 

STUDY. 

Keep a gamester from the dice, and a good student 
from his book, and it is wonderful. 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

. . . .study what you most affect. 

— Taming of the ShreTV, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Things hid and barr'd, you mean, from common sense? 
Ay, that is study's god-like recompense. 

— Love's Labours Lost, Act \, Sc. 1. 

Study is like heaven's glorious sun. 

That will not be deep-search'd with saucy looks : 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act ], Sc. 1. 

WINTER. 

. . . .winter tames man, woman, and beast; 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

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ENVIRONMENT. 

... .on the finger of a throned queen 
The basest jewel will be well esteem'd, 

—Sonnets XCVI. 

The strawberry grows underneath the nettle. 
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best 
Neighbor'd by fruit of baser quality: 

— King Henr-^ V., Act],Sc.]. 

SUSPICION. 

See what a ready tongue suspicion hath! 
He that but fears the thing he would not know 
Hath by instinct knowledge from others' eyes 
That what he fear'd is chanced. 

— King Henry IV. (Part ii). Act 1, 5c. 1. 

HISTORY. 

There is a history in all men's lives. 
Figuring the nature of the times diseased ; 
The which observed, a man may prophesy. 
With a near aim, of the main chance of things 
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds 
And weak beginnings lie intreasured. 

—King Henry IV. (Part it). Act 3, Sc. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

ADVANTAGE. 

, .advantage is a better soldier than rashness. 

— King Henry V., Act 3, 5c. 6. 

PROMPTNESS. 
, . . . better three hours too soon than a minute too 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Sc. 2. 



GAMBLING. 

Keep a gamester from the dice, and a good student 
from his book, and it is wonderful. 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

FATE. 

What fates impose, that men must needs abide; 
—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 4. Sc. 3. 

Let Hercules himself do what he may. 
The cat will mew, the dog will have his day. 

— Hamlet, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

RASH JUDGEMENT. 

Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. 
—King Henry VI. (Part ii). Act 3, Sc. 3. 

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RETALIATION. 

To whom do lions cast their gentle looks? 
Not to the beast that would usurp their den. 
Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick? 
Not his that spoils her young before her face. 
Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting? 
Not he that sets his foot upon her back. 
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on. 
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood. 

—King Henry VI. (Part m). Act 2, Sc. 2. 

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot 
That it do singe yourself: we may outrun. 
By violent swiftness, that which we run at, 
And lose by over-running. 

—King Henry VIII., ^cM , 5c. 1 . 

CRUELTY. 

. . . .when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, 
the gentler gamester is the soonest winner. 

— King Henry V., Act 3, Sc. 6. 

CIVIL WAR. 

Civil dissension is a viperous worm 
That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth. 
—King Henry VI. (Part i). Act 3, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

OBEDIENCE. 

Let them obey that know not how to rule; 

—King Henry VI. (Part n). Act 5. Sc. 1. 



OATHS. 

It is great sin to swear unto a sin. 

But greater sin to keep a sinful oath. 

Who can be bound by any solemn vow 

To do a murderous deed, to rob a man. 

To force a spotless virgin's chastity. 

To reave the orphan of his patrimony. 

To wring the widow from her customed right. 

And have no other reason for this wrong 

But that he was bound by a solemn oath? 

—King Henry VI. (Part «), Act 5, Sc. 1. 

An idiot holds his bauble for a god. 

And keeps the oath which by that god he swears, 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

' Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth. 
But the plain single vow that is vow'd true. 

-Alls Well That Ends Well Act 4, 5c. 2. 



DISGRACE. 

For no man well of such a salve can speak 
That heals the wound and cures not the disgrace : 

— Sonnets, XXXIV. 

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SUDDEN WEALTH. 

. . . .beggars mounted run their horse to death. 
—King Henry VI. (Part in). Act \, Sc. 4. 

PROPRIETY. 

... .if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill? 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 1 , 5c. 1. 

ABUSE. 

The hardest knife ill used doth lose his edge. 

— Sonnets, XCV, 

ATTEMPTS. 

.... a cause on foot. 
Lives so in hope, as in an early spring 
We see the appearing buds; which to prove fruit, 
Hope gives not so much warrant as despair 
That frosts will bite them. 

—King Henry IV. {Part ii). Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Things out of hope are compass'd oft with venturing, 
— Venus and Adonis, 95th verse. 

DUTY. 

For fleet-wing'd duty with thought's feathers flies. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 74th verse. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

INFLUENCE. 

.... a friend i' the court is better than a penny in 

purse. 

—King Henr^ IV. (Part ii). Act 5, Sc. 1. 

EVIDENCE. 

Who finds the heifer dead, and bleeding fresh. 
And sees fast by a butcher with an axe, 
But will suspect 'twas he that made the slaughter? 
Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest. 
But may imagine how the bird was dead. 
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak? 

—King Henry VI. (Part n). Act 3. Sc. 2. 

J CONFESSION. 

' The blackest sin is clear'd with absolution; 

— The Rape of Lucrece, D\st verse. 

j Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

FISHING. 

The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish 
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream. 
And greedily devour the treacherous bait : 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, 5c. 1 . 

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ACTION. 
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well 
It were done quickly: 

—Macbeth, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

The present eye praises the present object: 

Since things in motion sooner catch the eye 
Than what not stirs. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Action is eloquence, 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short. 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 



CAUTIOUSNESS. 

If we shall stand still, 
In fear our notion will be mock'd or carp'd at. 
We should take root here where we sit, or sit 
State-statues only. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 1, Sc. 2. 

We must not stint 
Our necessary actions, in the fear 
To cope malicious censurers; 

—King Henry VIII., Act 1, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

ARTISTS. 

In framing an artist, art hath thus decreed. 
To make some good, but others to exceed; 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

OMISSION. 

Omission to do what is necessary 

Seals a commission to a blank of danger; 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

FORCE. 

Men do their broken weapons rather use 
Than their bare hands. 

—Othello, Act 1, 5c. 3. 

Blunt wedges rive hard knots: 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act \, Sc. 3. 

FORGIVENESS. 

Think'st thou it honourable for a noble man 
Still to remember wrongs? 

— Coriolanus, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Pray you now, forget and forgive : 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 7. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PARDON. 

No word like ' pardon ' for kings mouths so meet. 

—King Richard II., Act 5, 5c. 3. 

Twice saying pardon doth not pardon twain. 
But makes one pardon strong. 

—King Richard II., Act 5, 5c. 3. 

KISS. 

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand 

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act ], 5c. 5. 

O! a kiss 
Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge ! 

— Coriolanus, Act 5, 5c. 3. 

.... had my lips that power. 
Thus would I wear them out. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, 5c. 15. 

PRECEDENT. 

Things done well. 
And with a care, exempt themselves from fear; 
Things done without example, in their issue 
Are to be fear'd. 

—King Henrv VIII., Act 1, 5c. 2. 

207 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

LAWYERS. 

For thy solicitor shall rather die 
Than give thy cause away. 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Crack the lawyer's voice. 
That he may never more false title plead. 
Nor sound his quillets shrilly: 

— Timon of Athens, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

MORNING. 

See how the morning opes her golden gates. 
And takes her farewell of the glorious sun! 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part iii). Act 2, Sc. 1. 

OPPRESSION. 

The smallest worm will turn being trodden on. 
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood. 

—King Hem}) VI. (Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 2. 

PRECOCITY. 

So wise so young, they say, do never live long. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

Short summers lightly have a forward spring. 

—King Richard III., Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

208 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

REVENGE. 

. . . .pleasure and revenge 
Have ears more deaf than adders to the voice 
Of any true decision. 

— Troilus and Cressida^ Act 2, Sc. 2. 

To revenge is no valour, but to bear. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

.... kindness, nobler ever than revenge, 

—As You Like It, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot 
That it do singe yourself: we may outrun. 
By violent swiftness, that which we run at. 
And lose by over-running. 

—King Henr^ VIII., ^cM, Sc. 1. 

STRENGTH. 

O, it is excellent 
To have a giant's strength ; but it is tyrannous 
To use it like a giant. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

TOOTHACHE. 

For there was never yet philosopher 

That could endure the toothache patiently. 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Sc. 1 . 

209 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SUBMISSION. 

. . . .wilt thou, pupil-like. 
Take thy correction mildly, kiss the rod, 

— King Richard II., Act 5, 5c. 1. 

Be not as extreme in submission 
As in offence. 

— Merr^ Wives of Windsor, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

THANKS. 

The poorest service is repaid with thanks; 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Sc. 3. 



YESTERDAY. 

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 

I The way to dusty death. 
—Macbeth, Act 5, Sc. 5. 

WISHES. 

Wishes were ever fools 
— Anton'^ and Cleopatra, Act 4, Sc. 15. 

WILL. 

Our bodies are our gardens ; to the which our wills 
are gardeners: 

—Othello, Act I, 5c. 3. 

210 



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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

REASON. 

.... reason and love keep little company together 
now-a-days. 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

The will of man is by his reason sway'd 

— Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... there's many a man hath more hair than wit. 
— Comedy of Errors, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks; 
When sreat leaves fall, the winter is at hand; 
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night? 

—King Richard III., Act 2. Sc. 3. 

. . . .what impossibility would slay 

In common sense, sense saves another way. 

—All's Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

. . . .with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury 
Do I take part. 

— The Tempest, Act 5, 5c. 1. 

ALLEGIANCE. 

I .... he that can endure 

To follow with allegiance a fall'n lord. 
Does conquer him that did his master conquer, 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 1 3. 

311 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

KINDNESS. 

. . . .you may ride's 
With one soft kiss a thousand furlongs ere 
With spur we heat an acre. 

— Winter's Tale, Act ], Sc. 2. 

.... what makes robbers bold but too much lenity ? 
—King Henr^ VI. (Part Hi), Act 2, Sc. 6. 

. . . .kindness, nobler ever than revenge, 

— As You Like It, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

UNKINDNESS. 
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

None can be call'd deform'd but the unkind : 

—Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

THOUGHT. 
.... thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool ; 
And time, that takes survey of all the world. 
Must have a stop. 

—King Henr^ IV., Act 5, Sc. 4. 

Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own : 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

For nimble thought can jump both sea and land, 
As soon as think the place where he would be. 

— Sonnets XLIV. 

212 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WIT. 
.... brevity is the soul of wit 
And tediousness the hmbs and outward flourishes, 

— Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .since the little wit that fools have was 
silenced, the little foolery that wise men have makes a 
great show. 

_ —As You Like It, Act ], Sc. 2. 

/ 

C Jesters do oft prove prophets. 
— King Lear, Act 5, Sc. 3. 

Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time: 
Some that will evermore peep through their eyes. 
And laugh like parrots at a bag-piper; 
And other of such vinegar aspect. 
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile. 
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

... .the dulness of the fool is the whetstone of 
the wits. 

—As You Like It, Act], Sc. 2. 

None are so surely caught, when they are catch'd. 
As wit turn'd fool: folly, in wisdom hatch'd. 
Hath wisdom's warrant and the help of school, 
. . . .wit's own grace to grace a learned fool. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

213 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WIT. 

Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the 
sun, it shines every where. 

—Twelfth NighU Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

. . . .they that dally nicely with words may 
quickly make them wanton. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

A sentence is but a cheveril glove to a good wit: 

how quickly the wrong side may be turned outward! 

—Twelfth Night, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

.... short-lived wits do wither as they grow. 

— Love's Lahour^s Lost^ Act 2, Sc. 1. 

/ Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. 

-Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 

Folly in fools bears not so strong a note. 
As foolery in the wise when wit doth dote: 
Since all the power thereof it doth apply 
To prove, by wit, worth in simplicity. 

— Love's Lahou/s Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 
; Of him that makes it: 

— Love's Labour* s Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

A good wit will make use of any thing: 
—King Henr^ IV, (Part «), Act 1. Sc. 2. 

214 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

APPEARANCE. 
A golden mind stoops not to show of dross ; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

All that glisters is not gold; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

.... all hoods make not monks. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

ANGER. 
. . . .where two raging fires meet together 
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury: 

— Taming of the Shrew, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

Never anger 
Made good guard for itself. 
— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

The brain may devise laws for the blood; but a 
hot temper leaps o'er a cold decree: 

— Merchant of Venice, Act \, Sc. 2. 

. . . .anger is like 
A full-hot horse, who being allow'd his way. 
Self-mettle tires him. 

—King Henry VIII., Act \,Sc.\. 

215 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

ANGER. 

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue: 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, 5c. 1. 

This tiger-footed rage, when it shall find 

The harm of unscann'd swiftness, will, too late. 

Tie leaden pounds to's heels. 

— Coriolanus, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

To be in anger is impiety; 

But who is man, that is not angry ? 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

Rage must be withstood : 
. . . .lions make leopards tame. 

— King Richard II., Act 1, Sc. 1. 

. . . .with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury 
Do I take part: 

— The Tempest, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

To be furious. 
Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood. 
The dove will peck the estridge. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 

LOYALTY. 

A jewel in a ten-times-barr'd-up chest 
Is a bold spirit in a loyal breast, 

— King Richard II., Act 1, 5c. 1. 

216 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FASHION. 

. . . .the fashion wears out more apparel than the 

man. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Seest thou not what a deformed thief this 
fashion is? 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Sc. 3. 



SUICIDE. 

He that hath a will to die by himself fears it not 
from another: 

— Coriolanus, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

.... he that cuts off twenty years of life 
Cuts off so many years of fearing death. 

— Julius Ccssar, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Against self-slaughter 
There is a prohibition so divine 
That cravens my weak hand. 

— C})mbeline, Act 3, 5c. 4. 

RABBLE. 

An habitation giddy and unsure 

Hath he, that buildeth on the vulgar heart. 

—King Henr^ IV. {Part ii). Act 1, 5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

RABBLE. 
.... the distracted multitude. 
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes; 

— Hamlet, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

. . . .curs, 
That like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you, 
The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you. 
Where he should find you lions, finds you hares, 
Where foxes, geese : you are no surer, no, 
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice. 
Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is 
To make him worthy whose offence subdues him 
And curse that justice did it. Who deserves greatness 
Deserves your hate; and your affections are 
A sick man's appetite, who desires most that 
Which would increase his evil. He that depends 
Upon your favors swims with fins of lead 
And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! Trust 

ye? 
With every minute you do change a mind, 
And call him noble, that was now your hate. 
Him vile, that was your garland. 

— Coriolanus, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

.... that's the wavering commons : for their love 
Lies in their purses, and whoso empties ihem 
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 2. 

218 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

RABBLE. 
Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear ! 
Look, as I blow this feather from my face. 
And as the air blows it to me again, 
Obeying with my wind when I do blow, 
And yielding to another when it blows. 
Commanded always by the greater gust; 
Such is the lightness of you common men, 

— King Henry VI. (Part in). Act 3, Sc. 

FAMILIARITY. 
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 

— Hamlet, Act ], Sc. 

FAITH. 

.... faith would live again by death of need. 
O then, tread down my need, and faith mounts up; 
Keep my need up, and faith is trodden down! 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 1 . 

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith; 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

OBSTINACY. 

.... to wilful men 
The injuries that they themselves procure 
Must be their schoolmasters. 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GUILT. 

So full of artless jealousy is guilt. 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 

— HamleU Act 4, Sc. 5. 

. . . .infected minds 
To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets: 

—Macbeth, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .great guilt, 
Like poison given to work a great time after. 
Now 'gins to bite the spirits. 

— The Tempest, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

.... guiltiness will speak 
Though tongues were out of use. 

—Othello, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; 
The thief doth fear each bush an officer. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part Hi), Act 5, Sc. 6. 

.... they whose guilt within their bosoms lie 
Imagine every eye beholds their blame; 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 92d verse. 

LIVELIHOOD. 

There's place and means for every man alive. 
—Alls Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

220 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PRAISE. 

. . . .one good deed, dying tongueless. 
Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that. 
Our praises are our wages: 

—Winter's Tale, Act\, Sc. 2. 

ENVY. 

' Tis much when sceptres are in children's hands ; 
But more when envy breeds unkind division; 
There comes the ruin, there begins confusion. 
-- — —King Henry VI . (Part i) , Act 4, Sc. 1. 

CHEERFULNESS. 

A merry heart goes all the day. 
Your sad tires in a mile-a. 

—Winter's Tale, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

.... a light heart lives long. 
— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

HOLIDAYS. 

If all the year were playing holidays. 
To sport would be as tedious as to work; 
But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come, 
An3 nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. 

—King Henry IV. {Part i). Act 1, Sc. 2. 

221 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CIVIL AUTHORITY. 

Not all the water in tli^ yough rude sea 
Can wash the balm o&^ixjikn an anointed king: 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 
The deputy elected by the Lord: 

—King Richard II., Act 3, 5c. 2. 



SOUL. 

Look how the floor of heaven 
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold: 
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st 
But in his motion like an angel sings. 
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins;- 2^ 
Such harmony is in immortal souls; 
But whilst this muddy gesture of decay 
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 



TAMING. 

.... for those that tame wild horses 
Pace ' em not in their hands to make ' em gentle, 
But stop their mouths with stubborn bits and spur 
Till they obey the manage. 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 5, Sc. 3. 

222 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

FAMINE. 

.... famine. 
Ere clean it o'erthrow nature, makes it valiant. 
Plenty and peace breed cowards; hardness ever 
Of hardiness is mother. 

— C^^mbeline, Act 3, Sc. 6. 



FORTUNE. 

. . . .when Fortune means to men most good. 
She looks UDon them with a threatening eye. 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 4. 

.... some men creep in skittish fortune's hall. 
Whiles others play the idiots in her eyes! 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

If Hercules and Lichas play at dice 
Which is the better man, the greater throw 
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand : 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

Prosperity's the very bond of love. 

Whose fresh complexion, and whose heart together. 

Affliction alters. 

— Winter's Tale, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

/ FORTUNE. 

' Fortune knows 

We scorn her most when most she offers blows. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 1 1. 

If fortune be not ours to-day, it is / 

Because we brave her: 

— Anton]) and Cleopatra, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

Fortune, 

Ne'er turns the key to the poor, 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle: | \ 
— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 5. / 

. . . .' tis not strange. 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change; 
For ' tis a question left us yet to prove, 
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

. . . .sweet love is food for fortune's tooth. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 4, Sc. 5. 

.... men's judgments are 
A parcel of their fortunes 
— Anton}) and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 13. 

224 




GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DEPENDENCE. 

Poor wretches that depend 
On greatness' favor dream as I have done; 

Wake, and find nothing 

Many dream not to find, neither deserve. 
And yet are steep'd in favors; 

— C^mbeline, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

O, how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! 
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to. 
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have : 
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, 
Never to hope again. 

—King Henr^ Vlll, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

ADVERSITY. 

Let me embrace thee sour adversity. 
For wise men say it is the wisest course. 
—King Henry VI. (Part Hi), Act 3, 5c. 1. 

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity. 

We bid be quiet when we hear it cry; 

But were we burden'd with like weight of pain. 

As much, or more, we should ourselves complain. 

— Comedy of Errors, Act 2, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DOWNFALL. 

Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down 
a hill, lest it break thy neck with following it; but the 
great one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. 

— Kxns, Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Men shut their doors against the setting sun. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

* Tis certain, greatness, once fall'n out with fortune. 
Must fall out with men too: what the declined is. 
He shall as soon read in the eyes of others 
As feel in his own fall: for men, like butterflies. 
Show not their mealy wings but to the summer ; 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

The great man down, you mark his favourite flies; 
The poor advanc'd makes friends of enemies: 

—Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

This is the state of man : to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hopes ; to-morrow blossoms. 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 
And — when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is aripening, — nips his root. 
And then he falls. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

226 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

DOWNFALL. 

If that one be prodigal. 

Bountiful they will him call. 

And with such like flattering, 

' Pity but he were a king.' 

If he be addict to vice. 

Quickly him they will entice: 

If to women he be bent, 

They have at commandment; 
I But if fortune once do frown, 
I Then, farewell his great renown: 

They that fawn'd on him before 

Use his company no more. 

— The Passionate Pilgrim, 2]st verse. 

MISFORTUNE. 

In the reproof of chance 
Lies the true proof of men: 
— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

No evil lost is wail'd when it is gone. 

— Corned-^ of Errors, Act. 4, Sc. 2. 

. . . .yield not thy neck 
To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind 
Still ride in triumph over all mischance. 

—King Henr^ VI. {Part Hi), Act 3, Sc. 3. 

237 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

INFIRMITY. 

Infirmity doth still neglect all office 
Whereto our health is bound; 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

... .we are not ourselves 
When nature being oppress'd, commands the mind 
To suffer with the body: 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. \ 

. . . .infirmity, that decays the wise, doth ever ^ 
make the better fool. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, 5c. 5. 

' Tis good for men to love their present {.ains 
Upon example ; so the spirit is eased : 
And when the mind is quicken'd, out of doubt, 
The organs, though defunct and dead before. 
Break up their drowsy grave and newly move, , / 
With casted slough and fresh legerity. // 

' — King Henr-^ V., Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

BEARD. - 

How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false 
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins 
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars; 
Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

The cease of majesty 
Dies not alone, but like a gulf doth draw 
What's near it with it: it is a massy wheel, 
Fix'd on the summit of the highest mount. 
To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things 
Are mortised and adjoin'd; which, when it falls. 
Each small annexment, petty consequence. 
Attends the boisterous ruin. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Kingdoms are clay: 
— Anton}) and Cleopatra, Act \, Sc. 1 . 

.... some are born great, some achieve greatness, 
and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc 5. 

They that stand high have many blasts to shake them; 
And if they fall they dash themselves to pieces. 

—King Richard III., Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Never alone 
Did the king sigh, but with a general groan. 

—Hamlet, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

Rightly to be great. 
Is not to stir without great argument, 

— Hamlet, Act 4, Sc, 4. 

229 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

.... graces will appear, 
—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

It is the witness still of excellency 

To put a strange face on his own perfection. 

—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

The eagle suffers little birds to sing, 
And is not careful what they mean thereby; 
Knowing that with the shadow of his wing. 
He can at pleasure stint their melody : 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 4, Sc. 4. 

Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep. 
— Trolius and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

Great men may jest with saints; ' tis wit in them. 
But in the less foul profanation. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

The great man down, you mark his favourite flies ; 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a 
hill, lest it break thy neck with following it: 

— King Lear, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

What great ones do the less will prattle of, 

— Twelfth Night, Act 1,5c. 2. 

230 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

'Tis certain, greatness, once fall'n out with fortune, 

Must fall out with men too : what the declined is, 

He shall as soon read in the eyes of others 

As feel in his own fall: for men, like butterflies. 

Show not their mealy wings but to the summer; 

And not a man, for being simply man. 

Hath any honour, but honour for those honours 

That are without him, as place, riches and favour. 

Prizes of accident as oft as merit: 

Which when they fall, as being slippery standers. 

The love that lean'd on them as slippery too, 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 



He that of greatest works is finisher. 

Oft does them by the weakest minister: 

So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown. 

When judges have been babes; 

—AlUs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. I 



H 



great floods have flown 

From simple sources; and great seas have dried. 
When miracles have by the greatest been denied. 
—Alls Well That Ends Well Act 2, Sc. 1 

The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins 
Remorse from power: 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 2, Sc. 1 

231 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

All solemn things 
Should answer solemn accidents. 

— Cy^mbeline, Act 4, 5c. 2. 

.... the gates of monarchs 
Are arch'd so high, that giants may jet through 
And keep their impious turbands on, 

— C])mbelme, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... the art o' the court, 
As hard to leave, as keep; whose top to climb 
Is certain falling, or so slippery that 
The fear's as bad as falling: the toil o' the war, 
A pain that only seems to seek out danger 
r the name of fame, and honor; which dies i' the search. 
And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph. 
As record of fair act ; nay, many times. 
Doth ill deserve by doing well ; what's worse. 
Must court'sy at the censure: 

— C'^mbeline, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

.... the blood more stirs 
To rouse a lion than to start a hare! 
—King Henry IV. {Part i). Act 1, 5c. 3. 

Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere; 
—King Henry IV. {Part i). Act 5, 5c. 4. 

233 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

Be great in act, as you have been in thought; 

Let not the world see fear and blank distrust 

Govern the motion of a kingly eye : , 

Be sdrring as the time; meet fire with fire; I 

Threaten the threatener, and outface the brow 

Of bragging horror : so shall inferior eyes. 

That borrow their behaviors from the great. 

Grow great by your example and put on 

The dauntless spirit of resolution. 

Ajway, and glister like the god of war. 

When he intendeth to become the field ; 

Show boldness, and aspiring confidence. j 

What, shall they seek the lion in his den, 

And fright him there ? and make him him tremble there ? 

O, let it not be said: forage, and run 

To meet displeasure farther from the doors. 

And grapple with him ere he come so nigh. 

— King John, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

Small curs are not regarded when they grin; 
But great men tremble when the lion roars; 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part li). Act 3, Sc. 1. 

For princes are the glass, the school, the book. 
Where subjects' eyes do learn, do read, do look. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, SSth verse. 

233 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade 

To shepherds looking on their silly sheep. 

Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy 

To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? 

O, yes it doth; a thousand fold it doth 

And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds, 

His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle. 

His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade. 

All which secure and sweetly he enjoys. 

Is far beyond a prince's delicates. 

His viands sparkling in a golden cup. 

His body couched in a curious bed. 

When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. 

—King Henr^ VI. (Part in). Act 2, Sc. 5. 

That man that sits within a monarch's heart. 
And ripens in the sunshine of his favor. 
Would he abuse the countenance of the king. 
Alack, what mischiefs might he set abroach 
In shadow of such greatness! 

—King Henr^ IV. (Part ii) , Act 4. Sc. 2. 

The lesser thing should not the greater hide; 
The cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot. 
But low shrubs wither at the cedar's root. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 95th verse. 

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GREATNESS. 

O polish'd perturbation ! golden care ! 

That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide 

To many a watchful night! sleep with it now! 

Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet 

As he whose brow with homely biggin bound 

Snores out the watch of night. O majesty! 

When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit 

Like a rich armor worn in heat of day. 

That scalds with safety. 

—King Henry IV. (Part n). Act 4, Sc. 5. 

The mightier man, the mightier is the thing 
That makes him honor'd or begets him hate; 
For greatest scandal waits on greatest state. I 

The moon being clouded presently is miss'd. 
But little stars may hide them when they list. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 44th verse. 

Great princes' favorites their fair leaves spread 
But as the marigold at the sun's eye. 
And in themselves their pride lies buried. 
For at a frown they in their glory die. 
The painful warrior famoused for fight, 
After a thousand victories once foil'd. 
Is from the book of honor razed quite. 
And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd: 

— Sonnets XXV. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

GREATNESS. 

Poor wretches that depend 
On greatness' favor dream as I have done; 

Wake, and find nothing 

Many dream not to find, neither deserve, 
And yet are steep'd in favors; 

— C'^mbeline, Act 5, Sc. 4. 

O, how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! 
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to. 
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin. 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have : 
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, 
Never to hope again. 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

True nobility is exempt from fear : 
—King Henry VI. {Part ii) , Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Small lights are soon blown out, huge fires abide, 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 93rd verse. 

POLICY. 

Men do their broken weapons rather use 
Than their bare hands. 

—Othello, Act 1, Sc. 3. 

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AUSTERITY. 

There are a sort of men, whose visages 
Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond; 
And do a wilful stillness entertain. 
With purpose to be dress' d in an opinion 
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit ; 
As who should say, " I am Sir Oracle, 
And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!" 
O my Antonio, I do know of these. 
That therefore only are reputed wise 
For saying nothing; when, I am very sure. 
If they should speak, would almost damn those ears, 
Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools. 
— Merchant of Venice, Act \, Sc. 1. 

NOBILITY. 

Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge: 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

FAILURE. 

Where zeal strives to content, and the contents 
Die in the zeal of that which it presents : 
Their form confounded makes most form in mirth, 
When great things laboring perish in their birth. 

— Lovers Labour's Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

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MEEKNESS. 

They can be meek, that have no other cause. 

— Corned}) of Errors, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

INNOCENCE. 

The silence often of pure innocence 
Persuades when speaking fails. 

— Winter's Tale, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... innocence shall make 
False accusation blush, 

— Winter's Tale, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

A heart unspotted is not easily daunted. 
—King Henry) VI . (Part n), Act 3, Sc. 1. 

What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted ! 

—King Henry VI. (Part ii) , Act 3, Sc. 2. 

For unstain'd thoughts do seldom dream on evil; 
Birds never limed no secret bushes fear: 

— The Rape of Lucrece, \3th verse. 

VIRGINITY. 

. . . .our virginity, though valiant, in the defence 
yet is weak: 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act \,Sc.\. 

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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 

Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage; 
—Trvelfth Night, Act 1, 5c. 5. 

... .he that is well hanged in this world needs 

to fear no colors. 

—Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 5. 

Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free 
And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate: 

—King Henry V., Act 3, Sc. 6. 



J^ERIDRITY. 





. . . .small to greater matter must give way. 

— Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

How poor an instrument 
May do a noble deed ! 

- — Antony and Cleopatra, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

A substitute shines brightly as a king, 
Until a king be by; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, 5c. 1 . 

. . . .the weakest kind of fruit 
Drops earliest to the ground; 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 4, 5c. 1. 

Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep. 
— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Sc. 3. 




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INFERIORITY. 

. . . .the blood more stirs 
To rouse a lion than to start a hare! 
—King Henry IV. {Part i) , Act 1, Sc. 3. 

Small curs are not regarded when they grin; 
But great men tremble when the lion roars; 
—King Henry VI. (Part »), Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade 

To shepherds looking on their silly sheep. 

Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy 

To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? 

O, yes it doth; a thousand fold it doth 

And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds. 

His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle, 

His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade. 

All which secure and sweetly he enjoys. 

Is far beyond a prince's delicates. 

His viands sparkling in a golden cup. 

His body couched in a curious bed. 

When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. 

—King Henry VI. (Part Hi), Act2,Sc.5. 

Small lights are soon blown out, huge fires abide. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 93rd verse. 

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MIRTH. 

. . . . ' tis ever common. 
That men are merriest when they are from home. 

—King Henry V., Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Mirth cannot move a soul in agony. 

— Loves Labour s Lost, Act 5, Sc. 2. 

Sad souls are slain in merry company; ! 

Grief best is pleas'd with grief's society : 
True sorrow then is feelingly suffic'd, 
When with like semblance it is sympathiz'd. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 1 59th verse. 

SALE. 
To things of sale a seller's praise belongs, 

— Love*s Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

KNOWLEDGE. 

.... ignorance is the curse of God, 
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven, 

—King Henry VL {Part ii). Act 4, Sc. 7. 

SADNESS. 
A merry heart goes all day. 
Your sad tires in a mile-a. 

-Winter's Tale, Act 4, 5c. 3. 

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TEARS. 

.... tears, there are no faces truer than those that 
are so washed; 

— Much Ado About Nothing, Act ] , Sc. 1. 

. . . .dry your eyes; 
Tears show their love, but want their remedies. 

— King Richard II., Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... what a hell of witchcraft lies 
In the small orb of one particular tear! 
But with the inundation of the eyes 
What rocky heart to water will not wear? 
What breast so cold that is not warmed here? 

— Lover's Complaint, 42nd verse. 

Tears harden lust, though marble wear with raining. 
— The Rape of Lucrece, SOth verse. 

STUBBORNNESS. 

Direct not him, whose way himself will choose: 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

REMEDY. 

One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail; 
Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail. 
A — Coriolanus, Act 4, Sc. 7. 

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INEVITABLENESS. 

.... what cannot be avoided 
' Twere childish weakness to lament or fear. 

—King Henry VI. (Part in). Act 5, 5c. 4. 

SUPERIORITY. 

Who does i' the wars mere than his captain can. 
Becomes his captain's captain: 

—Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Sc. 

JUSTICE. 

And justice always whirls in equal measure : 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

Be just, and fear not: 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... sparing justice feeds Iniquity. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 24] st verse. 

INJUSTICE. 

. . . . ' tis a meritorious fair design 

To chase injustice with revengeful arms: 

— The Rape of Lucrece, 242nd verse. 

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LAW. 

.... when law can do no right. 
Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong: 

— King John, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

.... pity is the virtue of the law. 
And none but tyrants use it cruelly. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

DESPERATION. 

. . . .mischief, thou art swift 
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men! 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Sc. I. 



HYPOCRISY. 

. . . .what may man within him hide. 
Though angel on the outward side ! 
How may likeness made in crimes. 
Making practice on the times. 
To draw with idle spiders' strings 
Most ponderous and substantial things! 

— Measure jot Measure, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

To show an unfelt sorrow is an office 
Which the false man does easy. 

—Macbeth, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

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HYPOCRISY. /^-^>- 

So may the outward shows be least themselves: 
The world is still deceived with ornament. 
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, 
But, being season'd with a gracious voice. 
Obscures the show of evil? In religion. 
What damned error, but some sober brow 
Will bless it, and approve it with a text. 
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? 
There is no vice so simple, but assumes 
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts: 
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false 
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins 
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars; 
Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk; 
And these assume but valor's excrement 
To render them redoubted! Look on beauty. 
And you shall see ' tis purchased by the weight; 
Which therein works a miracle in nature. 
Making them lightest that wear most of it: 
So are those crisped snaky golden locks 
Which make such wanton gambols with the wind. 
Upon supposed fairness, often known 
To be the dowry of a second head, 
The skull that bred them in the sepulchre. 
Thus ornament is but the guiling shore 
To a most dangerous sea; the beauteous scarf 

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HYPOCRISY. 

Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word. 

The seeming truth which cunning times put on 

To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold. 

Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee; 

Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge 

' Tween man and man : but thou, thou meagre lead, 

Which rather threatenest than dost promise aught, 

Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence ; 



— Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

O, what authority and show of truth 
Can cunning sin cover itself withal! 
— Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Who makes the fairest show means most deceit. 

— Pericles, Prince of T^re, Act \, Sc. 4. 

When devils will their blackest sins put on. 
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows, 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .the devil hath power 
To assume a pleasing shape; 

—Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

' Tis too much proved — that with devotion's visage 
And pious action we do sugar o'er 
The devil himself. 

— Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

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HYPOCRISY. 

How many lambs might the stem wolf betray. 
If like a lamb he could his looks translate! 

— Sonnets XCVI. 

False face must hide what the false heart doth know. 

— Macbeth, Act 1, Sc. 7, 

Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear; 
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

^ho cover faults, at last shame them derides. 

— King Lear, Act ], Sc. \. 

Plate sin with gold. 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it. 

— King Lear, Act 4, Sc. 6. 

e devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 
An evil soul, producing holy witness, 
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek; 
A goodly apple rotten at the heart: 
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! 

— Merchant of Venice, Act ], Sc. 3. 

PITY. ^iTv*,? 
No beast so fierce but knows touch of pity. 

—King Richard IIL, Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

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PITY. 

As fire drives out fire, so pity, pity — 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Soft pity enters at an iron gate. 

— The Rape of Lucrece, S5th verse. 

MUSIC 

Here-will we sit, and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears : soft stillness and the night_ 
Become the touches of sweet harmony. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

For Orpeus' lute was strung with poets' sinews, 
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones. 
Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans 
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands. 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 3, Sc. 2. 

. . . .music, moody food 
Of us that trade in love. 

— Anton}) and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 5. 



. . . .music was ordain'd! 
Was it not to refresh the mind of man 
After his studies or his usual pain? 

— Taming of the ShretP, Act 3, Sc. 1 

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MUSIC. 

. . . .nought so stockish, hard and full of rage. 
But music for the time doth change his nature. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

The man that hath no music in himself. 

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds. 

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; 

The motions of his spirit are dull as night. 

And his affections dark as Erebus: 

Let no such man be trusted. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

. . . .music oft hath such a charm 
To make bad good, and good provoke to harm. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

If music be the food of love, play on; 
Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting. 
The appetite may sicken, and so die. 

—Twelfth Night, Act ],Sc.\. 

TRUST. 

Learn more than thou trowest, 

— King Lear, Act \, Sc. 4. 

For"frust not him that hath once broken faith, 

—King Henry VL {Part Hi), Act 4, Sc. 4. 

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/ GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

TRUST. 

... you may fear too far. 

Safer than trust too far 
,i--'^'^ — King Lear, Act \, Sc. 4. 

Love dll, trust a few. 
Do wrong to none: 
—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act ],Sc.\. 

. . . .oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes 
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck : 
Therefore Caveto be thy counsellor. 

—King Hem]) V., Act 2, 5c. 3. 

SILENCE. 
There are a sort of men, whose visages 
Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond; 
And do a wilful stillness entertain. 
With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion 
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; 
As who should say, " I am Sir Oracle, 
And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!'* 
O my Antonio, I do know of these. 
That therefore only are reputed wise 
For saying nothing ; when, I am very sure. 
If they should speak, would almost damn those ears. 
Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools. 
— Merchant of Venice, Act I, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

SILENCE. 

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: 
—Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Sc. 1 . 

, , . .silence is only commendable 
In a neat's tongue dried, and a maid not vendible. 

— Merchant of Venice, Act ], Sc. 1. 

Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice : 

— Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 3. 
/ 
/ Speak less than thou knowest, 

I — King Lear, Act 1, 5c. 4. 

V DANGER. 

But I must go and meet with danger there. 
Or it will seek me in another place 
And find me worse provided. 

—King Henr^ IV. {Part ii). Act 2, Sc. 3. 

.... danger, like an ague, subtly taints 
Even then when we sit idly in the sun. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep; 



The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb. 

—King Henry VI. (Part ii). Act 3, 5c. 1. 

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DANGER. 

By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust 
Pursuing dangers; as, by proof, we see 
The waters swell before a boisterous storm. 

—King Richard III., Act 2, So. 3. 

RISK. 

Men that hazard all 
Do it in hope of fair advantages : 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc. 7. 

EXCESS. 

.... we may outrun. 
By violent swiftness, that which we run at. 
And lose by over-running. 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

The fire that mounts the liquor till't run o'er 
In seeming Jo augment it wastes it? 

—King Henry VIIL, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

VANITY. 

Light vanity, insatiate cormorant. 
Consuming means, soon preys upon itself. 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

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MERCY. 

Whereto serves mercy 
But to confront the visage of offence? 

—Hamlet, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill. 

— Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

.... pity is the virtue of the law. 
And none but tyrants use it cruelly. 

— Timon of Athens, Act 3, Sc. 5. 

Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge: 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword. 
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe. 
Become them with one half so good a grace 
As mercy does. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

.... lawful mercy 
Is nothing kin to foul redemption. 

— Measure for Measure, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

As you from crimes would pardon'd be. 
Let your indulgence set me free. 

— The Tempest, Epilogue. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

MERCY. 

The quality of mercy is not strain'd. 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; 
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: 
' Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown ; 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power. 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway; 
It ij enthroned in the hearts of kings. 
It is an attribute to God himself; 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's 
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 
Though justice be thy plea, consider this. 
That, in the course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy. 

— Merchant of Venice^ Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Though the seas threaten, they are merciful ; 

— The Tempest, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

PATIENCE. 
What wound did ever heal but by degrees? 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

PATIENCE. 

... .to climh steep hills 
Requires slow pace at first: 

—King Hem^ VIII., Act],Sc.\. 

He that will have a cake out of the wheat must 
needs tarry the grinding. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, Sc. 1. 

.... though patience be a tired mare, yet she will 
plod. 

— King Henry V., Act 2, 5c. 1 . 

How poor are they that have not patience! Q'^''^ 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .you must slay the cooling too, or you may 
chance to burn your lips. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 1, 5c. 1. 

Patience is stale, and I am weary of it. 

— King Richard II., Act 5, Sc. 5. 

That which in mean men we entitle patience 
Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts. 

—King Richard II., Act 1 , 5c. 2. 

SCORN. 

Scorn and derision never come in tears : 
— Midsummer Night^s Dream, Act 3, 5c. 2. 

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CHARITY. 

Love thyself last: 

—King Henr^ VIII., Act 3, 5c. 2. 

.... cherish those hearts that hate thee ; 

—King Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

.... the lamp that burns by night 
Dries up his oil to lend the world his light. 

— Venus and Adonis, \26ih verse. 

A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise. 

— Love's Labour's Lost, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 3, Sc. 1. 

Love all, trust a few. 
Do wrong to none: 
—AWs Well That Ends Well, Act \,Sc.\. 

TYRANTS. 

. . . .tyrants' fears 
Decrease not, but grow faster than the years : 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act \, Sc. 2. 

' Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss. 

— Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act \, Sc. 2. 

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PLEASURE. 

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short. 

—Othello, Act 2, Sc. 3. 

. . . .pleasure will be paid, one time or another. 
—Twelfth Night, Act 2, Sc. 4. 

Why, all delights are vain; but that most vain. 
Which, with pain purchased, doth inherit pain : 

— Love's Labours Lost, Act \, Sc. 1. 

Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. 

—King Richard IL, Act 1 , Sc. 3. 

If all the year were playing holidays. 

To sport would be as tedious as to work ; 

But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come, _ 

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. 

—King Henry IV. (Part i). Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood. 
That we must curb it upon others' proof; 
To be forbod the sweets that seem so good. 
For fear of harms that preach in our behoof. 
O appetite, from judgment stand aloof! 
The one a palate hath that needs will taste. 
Though Reason weep, and cry, " It is thy last." 

— Lover's Complaint, 24th verse. 

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PLEASURE. 

. . . .pleasure and revenge 
Have ears more deaf than adders to the voice 
Of any true decision. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, 5c. 2. 

What's sweet to do, to do will aptly find: 

— Lovers Complaint, \^th verse. 

WATCHFULNESS. 

Indeed, a sheep doth very often stray, 
And if the shepherd be awhile away. 
— Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Sc. ]. 

Watching breeds leanness, leanness is all gaunt: 

—King Richard II., Act 2, Sc. 1. 

JEALOUSY. 

. . . .jealousy; 
It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock 
The meat it feeds on : 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

Trifles, light as air 
Are to the jealous confirmations strong 
As proofs of holy writ: 

—Othello, Act 3, 5c. 3. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

JEALOUSY. 

. . . .what damned minutes tells he o'er 
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet fondly loves ! 

—Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

. . . .jealous: ' tis a monster 
Begot upon itself, born on itself. 

—Othello, Act 3, 5c. 4. 

The venom clamors of a jealous woman 
Poisons more deadly than a mad dog's tooth. 

— Corned]) of Errors, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

KINGS. 

What infinite heart's ease 
Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy! 
And what have kings, that privates have not too. 
Save ceremony, save general ceremony? 
And what art thou, thou idol ceremony? 
What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more 
Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers? 
What are thy rents? what are thy comings in? I 
O ceremony, show me but thy worth ! 
What is thy soul of adoration? 
Art thou aught else but place, degree and form 
Creating awe and fear in other men? 
Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd 

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KINGS. 

Than they in fearing. 

What drink' st thou oft, instead of homage sweet. 

But poison'd flattery? O, be sick, great greatness. 

And bid thy ceremony give thee cure! 

Think'st thou the fiery fever will go out 

With titles blown from adulation? 

Will it give place to flexure and low bending? 

Can'st thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee. 

Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream. 

That play'st so subtly with a king's repose; 

I am a king that find thee, and I know 

' Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball. 

The sword, the mace, the crown imperial. 

The inter-tissued robe of gold and pearl. 

The farced title running 'fore the king. 

The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp 

That beats upon the high shore of this world ; 

No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony. 

Not all these, laid in bed majestical. 

Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave, 

Who with a body fill'd and vacant mind 

Gets him to rest, cramm'd with distasteful bread; 

Never sees horrid night, the child of hell, 

But, like a lackey, from the rise to set, 

Sweats in the eye of Phoebus, and all night 

Sleeps in Elysium; next day, after dawn, 

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KINGS. 

Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse. 

And follows so the ever running year. 

With profitable labor, to his grave : 

And, but for ceremony, such a wretch. 

Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep. 

Hath the fore-hand and vantage of a king. 

The slave, a member of the country's peace. 

Enjoys it but in gross brain little wots 

What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace. 

Whose hours the peasant best advantages. 

— King Henry V., Act 4, Sc. 1 . 

What subject can give sentence on his king? 

^King Richard 11. , Act 4, 5c. I. 

Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
Can wash the balm off from an anointed king; 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 
The deputy elected by the Lord : 

—King Richard II., Act 3. 5c. 2. 

Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength, 

—King Richard III., Act 5, Sc. 3. 

But happy monarchs still are fear'd for love : 

— The Rape of Lucrece, &Sth verse. 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. ^^ 

—King Henry IV. (Part ii). Act 3, 5c. 1. 

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GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

WELCOME. 

... .the appurtenance of welcome is fashion and 
ceremony : 

' — Hamlet, Act 2, Sc. 2. 

. . . .welcome ever smiles, 
— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, Sc. 3. 

.... ceremony was but devis'd at first 
To set a gloss on faint deeds, hollow welcomes, 

— Timon of Athens, Act ], Sc. 2. 

UNCONSCIOUSNESS. 

. . . .more water glideth by the mill 
Than wots the miller of; 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

. . . .easy it is 
Of a cut loaf to steal a shive, 

— Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

CURE. 

rhey love not poison that do poison need, 

— King Richard II., Act 5, Sc. 6. 

GIFTS. 
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward. 

—AlVs Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Sc. I. 

262 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

UNNATURALNESS. 

. . . .unnatural deeds 
Do breed unnatural troubles: 

—Macbeth, Act 5, Sc. 1. 

OPPORTUNENESS. 

The mellow plum doth fall, the green sticks fast. 
Or being early pluck'd is sour to taste. 

— Venus and Adonis, S8th verse. 

DECEPTION. 

It is the bright day that brings forth the adder; 
And that craves wary walking. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 2, Sc. 1. 

SERVILITY. 

It is the curse of kings to be attended 

By slaves that take their humors for a warrant 

To break into the bloody house of life. 

And on the winking of authority 

To understand a law; to know the meaning 

Of dangerous majesty, when perchance it frowns 

More upon humor than advised respect. 

— King John, Act 4, Sc. 2. 

263 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 

CAREFULNESS. 

Things done well, 
And with a care, exempt themselves from fear; 

—King Hem^ VIIL, Act 1 , Sc. 2. 

TRIFLES. 

A little fire is quickly trodden out 

Which, being sufFer'd, rivers cannot quench. 

—King Henry VI. {Part Hi), Act 4. Sc. 8. 

FLIGHTINESS. 

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook 
Unless the deed go with it: 

—Macbeth, Act 4, 5c. 1. 

FAREWELL. 
.... farewell goes out sighing. 

— Troilus and Cressida, Act 3, 5c. 3. 



264 



INDEX 



A 

Abundance 39, 40 

Abuse 203 

Action 205 

Actors 84 

Advancement 77 

Advantage 200 

Adversity 225 

Advice 127 

Allegiance 211 

Ambition 188-190 

Anarchy 151 

Anger 215, 216 

Appearance 215 

Arbitration 197 

Artists 206 

Attempts 203 

Austerity 237 

B 

Beard 228 

Beauty 156-160 

Boasting 86 

Books Ill 

Borrowing 138 

Bravery 43-45 

Brother . ; 35 

C 

Calumny 15-17 

Care 120 

265 



Carefulness 264 

Capital Punishment .... 239 

Cautiousness , . 205 

Censure 19 

Ceremony 167, 168 

Charity 256 

Chastity 144 

Cheerfulness 221 

Children 33, 34 

Civil Authority 222 

Civil War 201 

Clergymen 141 

Clothing 94, 95 

Confession 204 

Constancy 173 

Conscience 193-195 

Contentment 140 

Corruption 77 

Courtesy 190 

Cowardice 45, 46 

Crisis 81, 82 

Criticism 144 

Cruelty 201 

Curses 177 

Custom 78, 79 

Cure 262 

D 

Danger 251, 252 

Death 121-126 

Deception 263 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 



Deeds 150 

Delay 178 

Dependence 225 

Desperation 244 

Discontent 140 

Disgrace 202 

Disguise 179 

Dispassion 15 

Doubt 161 

Downfall 226, 227 

Drunkard 165 

Dreams 171 

Duty 203 

E 

Economy 93 

Enmity 39 

Environment 199 

Envy 221 

Error 170 

Eternity 18 

Evidence 204 

Excess 252 

Exile 120 

Expectation 170 

Experience 160, 161 

Eyes 192 

F 

Face 89 

Fame 25-29 

Failure 237 

Familiarity 219 

Faith 219 

Falsehood 29 

Famine 223 

Farewell 264 

Fashion 217 



Fate 200 

Father 34, 35 

Fatness 195 

Faults 103, 104 

Fear 40-43 

Fishing 204 

Flattery 84, 85 

Flightiness 264 

Fools 80, 81 

Folly 79, 80 

Force 206 

Forgiveness 206 

Fortune 223, 224 

Friendship 36-39 

Future 76, 77 

G 

Gambling 200 

Generosity 178 

Good Deeds 136 

Gifts 262 

Greatness 229-236 

Grief 63-73 

Guilt 220 

H 

Happiness 171 

Haste .90, 91 

Heaven 19 

History 199 

Holidays 221 

Hollowness 162 

Home 102 

Honesty 32, 33 

Honor 89, 90 

Hope 174 

Hunger 174 

Humility 178 



266 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 



Husband 132, 133 

Hypocrisy 244-247 

I 

Idleness 86, 87 

Ignorance 93, 93 

Imagination 75 

Industry •. . . 87 

Infirmity 228 

Influence 204 

Inevitableness 243 

Ingratitude 94 

Inopportuneness 165 

Inferiority 239, 240 

Injustice 243 

Innocence 238 

Instinct 177 

Intemperance 164 

Intention 1 

J 

Jealousy 258, 259 

Jewels 74 

Joy 74 

Judgement 95 

Justice 243 

K 

Kindness 212 

Kings 259-261 

Kiss 207 

Knowledge 241 

L 

Labor 176 

Law 244 

Lawyers 208 

Lending 138 

Life 105-110 



Livelihood 220 

Loss 187 

Love 46-63 

Lowliness 139, 140 

Loyalty 216 

Liberty 177 

Liquor 163, 164 

Lust 142-144 

M 

Madness 17, 18 

Man 11-15 

Marriage 129-131 

Medicine 91 

Meekness 238 

Melancholia 197 

Mercy 253, 254 

Merit 131 

Midnight 85 

Mind 112 

Mirror 190 

Misfortune 227 

Mirth 241 

Misery 75 

Money 96-99 

Morning 308 

Mother 35 

Motives 198 

Murder 82-84 

Music 248, 249 

N 

Name 120 

Nature 196 

Necessity 103 

News 88 

Night 168 

Nobility 237 

267 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 



O 

Oaths 202 

Obedience 202 

Obstinacy 219 

Old Age 20-23 

Omission 206 

Opportuneness 263 

Opportunity 179-182 

Oppression 208 

P 

Pardon 207 

Parents 35 

Patience 254, 255 

Parting 120 

Passion 18 

Past 76 

Patriotism 173 

Peace 155 

People 150 

Perseverance 136, 137 

Philosophy 121 

Pity 247, 248 

Pleasure 257, 258 

Poetry _. .166, 167 

Policy 236 

Possession 128, 129 

Power 173 

Poverty 101, 102 

Praise 221 

Prayer 78 

Present 76 

Providence 19, 20 

Precedent 207 

Precocity 208 

Pride 162 

Promises 168 

Promptness 200 

268 



Propagation of the Hu- 
man Race 182-187 

Propriety 203 

Punishment 171 

Pursuit 128 

Q 

Quarrels 126, 127 

R 

Rabble 217-219 

Rash Judgement 200 

Reason 211 

Relentlessness 174 

Religion 197 

Remedy 242 

Repentance 94 

Reputation 193 

Respect 152 

Retaliation 201 

Revenge 209 

Riches 99-101 

Riding 93 

Risk 252 

Ruins 192 

Rumor 110-111 

S 

Sadness 241 

Sale 241 

Satisfaction , 82 

Scoffing 165 

Scorn 255 

Selfishness 178, 179 

Sentimentality 131 

Servility 263 

Silence 250, 251 

Simplicity 156 



GOLDEN TEXTS FROM SHAKESPEARE 



Slavery 1'77 

Sleep 104, 105 

Society 191, 192 

Soldiers 166 

Soul 222 

Spendthrift 93 

Sport 195 

Spring 197 

Stubbornness 242 

Stealth 31, 32 

Strength 209 

Study 198 

Submission 210 

Sudden Wealth 203 

Suicide 217 

Sun 190 

Superiority 243 

Surfeit 40 

Suspicion 199 



Taming 222 

Tears 242 

Temperance 165 

Temptation 172 

Thanks 210 

Thought 212 

Time 145-150 

Tipping 176 

Toothache 209 

Traitors 141 

Travellers 195 

Treason 137 

Trifles 264 

Trust 249, 250 

Truth 29-31 

Tyrants 256 



U 

Unconsciousness 262 

Unkindness 212 

Unnaturalness 263 

Usurpation 196 



Vanity 252 

Value 169 

Vengeance 138 

Vice 112-118 

Victory 169 

Virginity 238 

Virtue 118, 119 

W 

War 153, 154. 

Watchfulness 258 

Welcome 262 

Widows 195 

Wife 133-135 

Will 210 

Winning 188 

Winter 198 

Wisdom 91, 92 

Wishes 210 

Wit 213, 214 

Woman 2-10 

Words 151, 152 

World 175, 176 

Worthlessness 77 



Yesterday 210 

Youth 22-25 



269 






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